Every packet you sell speaks to a law most sellers have never read: the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules — the regime behind MRP, net quantity and those tiny declarations on every label. Its inspectors need no complaint to act; a market visit and one non-conforming packet generate compounding notices across your whole batch. Whether you manufacture, import or retail packaged goods, here is the label law decoded.
Who is covered
- Manufacturers and packers of pre-packaged commodities — anything packaged without the purchaser present, in predetermined quantity
- Importers (with their own declaration duties)
- Retailers and e-commerce platforms (liability for selling non-compliant packages — marketplaces must display declarations online)
- Registration: manufacturers/packers/importers must register under Rule 27 with the Legal Metrology department — a modest, mandatory formality many food startups miss
Industrial/institutional bulk buyers and certain package sizes enjoy exemptions — but consumer retail packs are squarely in.
The mandatory declarations
Every retail package must declare: name and address of manufacturer/packer/importer (complete postal address); common/generic name of the commodity; net quantity in standard units (weight/measure/number — with prescribed letter heights by pack size); month and year of manufacture (or packing/import); MRP inclusive of all taxes in the prescribed form; consumer care contact (name, address, phone/email); and unit sale price alongside MRP (per kg/litre — the newer requirement catching brands out). Food packages layer FSSAI labelling on top; cosmetics, drugs and electronics add their own statutes. Font sizes, placement on the principal display panel, and non-obliterability are all specified — 'it's printed somewhere' is not compliance.
MRP: the rules inside the rule
- Selling above MRP is an offence — always, everywhere (hotels/restaurants serving in-premises have carved case-law space, but retail has none)
- Revising MRP upward on existing stock is prohibited except via the notified procedure (advertisements, stickers per rules) after tax changes
- Dual MRPs for the same product in the same market: prohibited
- Discounts below MRP: always fine — MRP is a ceiling, not a price
Marketplace listings must display the mandatory declarations (MRP, net quantity, origin, manufacturer, best-before where applicable) on the product page itself. Sellers uploading bare photos and platforms hosting them share exposure — audits of listings are now a standard enforcement mode.
Enforcement and penalties
Legal Metrology enforcement is decentralised, frequent and compounding-oriented: inspectors sample retail shelves, weigh net contents (shortweight is its own offence with strict tolerances), and issue notices per violation — fines that escalate on repetition, with prosecution provisions for persistent offenders. Because each SKU-batch can count separately, a single label defect multiplies alarmingly. Directors/partners can be named; the Act's compounding process settles most first offences with fees — cheaper than litigation, still far costlier than a compliant label plate.
Getting labels right, permanently
- Institute a label-approval SOP: no artwork to print without a checklist sign-off against the current Rules (they amend — subscribe someone to updates)
- Verify letter heights against pack size tables; check the principal display panel placement
- Register under Rule 27 before first dispatch; renew as required
- Calibrate and stamp your weighing/filling equipment (verification by Legal Metrology is itself mandatory) and run statistical fill checks — shortweight is measured, not intended
- Quarantine and re-sticker legacy stock lawfully when declarations change
How Aidwish helps
Aidwish runs label-compliance reviews for packaged-goods clients — declaration checklists, artwork sign-off SOPs, Rule 27 registrations and equipment verification coordination — folding Legal Metrology into the same system as FSSAI so packs pass every counter they land on.