Chapter III APPOINTMENT AND POWERS OF DIRECTOR, CONTROLLER AND LEGAL METROLOGY OFFICERS

1. (1) The Central Government may, by notification, appoint a Director of legal metrology, Additional Director, Joint Director, Deputy Director, Assistant Director and other employees for exercising the powers and discharging the duties conferred or imposed on them by or under this Act in relation to inter-State trade and commerce.
2. (2) The qualifications of the Director and legal metrology officers appointed under sub-section (1) shall be such as may be prescribed.
3. (3) The Director and every legal metrology officer, appointed under sub-section (1), shall exercise such powers and discharge such functions in respect of such local limits as the Central Government may, by notification, specify.
4. (4) Every legal metrology officer appointed under sub-section (1) shall exercise powers and discharge duties under the general superintendence, direction and control of the Director.
5. (5) The Director, the Controller and every legal metrology officer authorised to perform any duty by or under this Act shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
6. (6) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Director, the Controller and legal metrology officer authorised to perform any duty by or under this Act in respect of anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act or any rule or order made thereunder.
7. (7) The Central Government may, with the consent of the State Government and subject to such conditions, limitations and restrictions as it may specify in this behalf, delegate such of the powers of the Director under this Act as it may think fit to the Controller of legal metrology in the State, and such Controller may, if he is of opinion that it is necessary or expedient in the public interest so to do, delegate such of the powers delegated to him as he may think fit to any legal metrology officer and where any such delegation of powers is made by such Controller, the person to whom such powers are delegated shall exercise those powers in the same manner and with the same effect as if they had been conferred on him directly by this Act and not by way of delegation.
8. (8) Where any delegation of powers is made under sub-section (7), the powers so delegated shall be exercised under the general superintendence, direction and guidance of the Director.

1. (1) The State Government may, by notification, appoint a Controller of legal metrology, Additional Controller, Joint Controller, Deputy Controller, Assistant Controller, Inspector and other employees for the State for exercising the powers and discharging the duties conferred or imposed on them by or under this Act in relation to intra State trade and commerce.
2. (2) The qualifications of the Controller and legal metrology officers appointed under sub-section (1) shall be such as may be prescribed.
3. (3) The Controller and every legal metrology officer, appointed under sub-section (1), shall exercise such powers and discharge such functions in respect of such local limits as the State Government may, by notification, specify.
4. (4) Every legal metrology officer appointed under sub-section (1) shall exercise and discharge the duties under the general superintendence, direction and control of the Controller.

1. (1) The Director, Controller or any legal metrology officer may, if he has any reason to believe, whether from any information given to him by any person and taken down in writing or from personal knowledge or otherwise, that any weight or measure or other goods in relation to which any trade and commerce has taken place or is intended to take place and in respect of which an offence punishable under this Act appears to have been, or is likely to be, committed are either kept or concealed in any premises or are in the course of transportation,—
   • (a) enter at any reasonable time into any such premises and search for and inspect any weight, measure or other goods in relation to which trade and commerce has taken place, or is intended to take place and any record, register or other document relating thereto;
   • (b) seize any weight, measure or other goods and any record, register or other document or article which he has reason to believe may furnish evidence indicating that an offence punishable under this Act has been, or is likely to be, committed in the course of, or in relation to, any trade and commerce.
2. (2) The Director, Controller or any legal metrology officer may also require the production of every document or other record relating to the weight or measure referred to in sub-section (1) and the person having the custody of such weight or measure shall comply with such requisition.
3. (3) Where any goods seized under sub-section (1) are subject to speedy or natural decay, the Director, Controller or legal metrology officer may dispose of such goods in such manner as may be prescribed.
4. (4) Every search or seizure made under this section shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), relating to searches and seizures. 1[(5) Any inspection, search or seizure carried out by a legal metrology officer under this section in pursuance of a general or special order, instruction or written authorisation issued by the Director or Controller of Legal Metrology shall be deemed to have been made under a lawful warrant.
5. (6) If the Director, Controller or legal metrology officer has reasonable ground for believing that any person has failed to comply with any provision of the Act or rules or directions issued, wherever applicable, he may, by a improvement notice served on that person,––
   • (i) state the grounds for believing that the person has failed to comply with the provisions of Act or rules or directions issued;
   • (ii) specify the matters which constitute the person’s failure so to comply;
   • (iii) specify the measures which, in the opinion of the said Authority, the person must take, in order to secure compliance; and
   • (iv) require the person to take those measures, within a reasonable period, as may be specified in the said notice.
6. (7) If the person fails to comply with an improvement notice issued under sub-section (6), his registration or approval, as the case may be, shall be suspended or revoked: Provided that the authorised officer may, after giving the person an opportunity of being heard, suspend or revoke the registration or approval granted, as the case may be, for reasons to be recorded in writing.]

1. (1) Every non-standard or unverified weight or measure, and every package made in contravention of section 18, used in the course of, or in relation to, any trade and commerce and seized under section 15, shall be liable to be forfeited to the State Government: Provided that such unverified weight or measure shall not be forfeited to the State Government if the person from whom such weight or measure was seized gets the same verified and stamped within such time as may be prescribed.
2. (2) Every weight, measure or other goods seized under section 15 but not forfeited under sub-section (1), shall be disposed of by such authority and in such manner as may be prescribed.

1. (1) Every manufacturer, repairer or dealer of weight or measure shall maintain such records and registers as may be prescribed.
2. (2) The records and registers maintained under sub-section (1) shall be produced at the time of inspection to the persons authorised for the said purpose under sub-section (1) of section 15.

1. (1) No person shall manufacture, pack, sell, import, distribute, deliver, offer, expose or possess for sale any pre-packaged commodity unless such package is in such standard quantities or number and bears thereon such declarations and particulars in such manner as may be prescribed.
2. (2) Any advertisement mentioning the retail sale price of a pre-packaged commodity shall contain a declaration as to the net quantity or number of the commodity contained in the package in such form and manner as may be prescribed.

No person shall import any weight or measure unless he is registered with the Director in such manner and on payment of such fees, as may be prescribed.

No weight or measure, whether singly or as a part or component of any machine shall be imported unless it conforms to the standards of weight or measure established by or under this Act.

1. (1) For imparting training in Legal Metrology and other allied branches of knowledge the “Indian Institute of Legal Metrology” (hereinafter referred to as the “Institute”) established under the provisions of the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976 (60 of 1976), shall be deemed to have been established under the corresponding provisions of this Act.
2. (2) The management and control of the Institute, the teaching staff and other employees, the courses and curricula for training thereat, the qualifications, which a person shall possess in order to be eligible for admission thereto shall be such as may be prescribed.

¹ Ins. by Act 8 of 2026, s.2 and Sch. (w.e.f. 01-05-2026).

Every person, before manufacturing or importing any weight or measure shall seek the approval of model of such weight or measure in such manner, on payment of such fee and from such authority as may be prescribed:

Provided that such approval of model may not be required in respect of any cast iron, brass, bullion, or carat weight or any beam scale, length measures (not being measuring tapes) which are ordinarily used in retail trade for measuring textiles or timber, capacity measures, not exceeding twenty litre in capacity, which are ordinarily used in retail trade for measuring kerosene, milk or potable liquors:

Provided further that the prescribed authority may, if he is satisfied that the model of any weight or measure which has been approved in a country outside India conforms to the standards established by or under this Act, approve such model without any test or after such test as he may deem fit.

1. (1) No person shall manufacture, repair or sell, or offer, expose or possess for repair or sale, any weight or measure unless he holds a 1[registration certificate] issued by the Controller under sub-section (2): Provided that no 1[registration certificate] to repair shall be required by a manufacturer for repair of his own weight or measure in a State other than the State of manufacture of the same.
2. (2) For the purpose of sub-section (1), the Controller shall issue a 1[registration certificate] in such form and manner, on such conditions, for such period and such area of jurisdiction and on payment of such fee as may be prescribed.