Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, issued a press release stating that it has introduced an Improvement Notice mechanism under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, through the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2026.

Under the mechanism, a Legal Metrology Officer may issue an Improvement Notice identifying a specified first-time procedural or regulatory non-compliance and providing a stated period for rectification, applicable before penal proceedings are initiated. The release states this applies to manufacturers, importers, packers, dealers, repairers, traders, MSMEs, and other regulated entities. It states that where a regulated entity complies within the prescribed period, penal proceedings may be avoided, while failure to comply or repeated non-compliance continues to attract action under the Act’s provisions. The release states the mechanism covers non-compliances relating to registration requirements, documentation and record maintenance, model approval, manufacture/sale/repair of weights and measures, import of weights and measures, transactions and packaged commodities, and furnishing of statutory information and returns, corresponding to Sections 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36(1), 38, 39, 41(1), 41(2), 45, 46, and 47 of the Act. The release states the mechanism does not apply to fraud, repeated violations, tampering, or other acts affecting consumer interests, and is limited to specified first-time procedural and regulatory non-compliances.