{"id":15950,"date":"2026-01-10T18:09:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T12:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theeducationoverview.in\/?p=15950"},"modified":"2026-01-10T18:09:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T12:39:33","slug":"department-of-consumer-affairs-awards-12-gatc-certificates-to-11-private-entities-strengthening-public-private-partnership-in-legal-metrology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theeducationoverview.in\/?p=15950","title":{"rendered":"Department of Consumer Affairs awards 12 GATC certificates to 11 private entities, strengthening Public\u2013Private Partnership in Legal Metrology"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Department of Consumer Affairs awards 12 GATC certificates to 11 private entities, strengthening Public\u2013Private Partnership in Legal Metrology<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n


\nGATC Rules now cover 18 categories of instruments, significantly enhancing consumer protection and accuracy in trade<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

This public-private partnership initiative supports Atmanirbhar Bharat by enabling private entities to contribute to India’s verification network<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Posted On: 29 DEC 2025 3:15PM by PIB Delhi<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

The Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, has achieved a significant milestone by awarding\u00a012 Government Approved Test Centre (GATC) certificates to 11 private entities, strengthening India\u2019s legal metrology verification ecosystem through a\u00a0structured public\u2013private partnership framework. The certificates were presented by Shri Pralhad Joshi, Hon\u2019ble Union Cabinet Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Minister of New & Renewable Energy, in the august presence of Shri B. L. Verma, Hon\u2019ble Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment, on 24 December 2025.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This landmark step marks a transformative reform in the country\u2019s legal metrology system by expanding verification capacity beyond the public sector and enabling greater participation of qualified private entities. The initiative is aimed at strengthening accuracy and reliability in weights and measures used in trade and consumer transactions, while improving ease of doing business and regulatory efficiency.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The recognition of private entities as GATCs follows the amendment of the\u00a0Legal Metrology (Government Approved Test Centre) Rules, 2013, notified on\u00a023 October 2025. The amended Rules significantly expanded the scope of GATCs and enabled private laboratories and industries meeting prescribed technical criteria to undertake verification and re-verification of weighing and measuring instruments, in line with international best practices.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

18 Categories of Instruments Now Covered<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Under the amended framework,\u00a018 categories of weighing and measuring instruments\u00a0are now covered, reflecting the Government\u2019s commitment to addressing evolving technological and sectoral requirements across healthcare, transport, energy, infrastructure and consumer services. These include<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Water meters, energy meters, gas meters<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Flow meters, moisture meters<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Sphygmomanometers and clinical thermometers<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Breath analysers and vehicle speed meters<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Multi-dimensional measuring instruments<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Automatic rail weighbridges<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Tape measures, non-automatic weighing instruments<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Load cells, beam scales, counter machines<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Weights of all categories<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Following the notification of the amended Rules, the Department of Consumer Affairs launched a\u00a0dedicated online portal\u00a0to invite and process applications from eligible private entities for GATC recognition. The application window, which remained open until\u00a030 November 2025, ensured a transparent, digital and time-bound process, facilitating faster approvals and improved service delivery.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    The recognition of private GATCs is expected to significantly improve accessibility to verification services, reduce turnaround time and support faster compliance for manufacturers, traders and service providers across the country. Regular and decentralised verification of consumer-facing instruments such as weighing scales, water meters and energy meters will minimise inaccuracies, ensure consumers receive full value in everyday transactions and strengthen trust in the marketplace.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    This public\u2013private partnership initiative aligns with the vision of\u00a0Atmanirbhar Bharat, leveraging domestic technical capabilities and enabling private entities to contribute meaningfully to India\u2019s expanding verification network within a uniform, transparent and regulated framework.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    The continued recognition of\u00a0Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSLs)\u00a0and\u00a0National Test House (NTH)\u00a0laboratories as deemed GATCs ensures a robust nationwide verification ecosystem. By decentralising verification activities, the reform acts as a force multiplier for State Legal Metrology Departments, allowing Legal Metrology Officers to focus more effectively on inspection, enforcement and consumer grievance redressal.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    Through these reforms, the Government reaffirms its commitment to a\u00a0scientific, technology-driven and future-ready legal metrology system, aligned with international standards and best practices, strengthening consumer confidence, regulatory efficiency and fairness in trade.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Department of Consumer Affairs awards 12 GATC certificates to 11 private entities, strengthening Public\u2013Private Partnership in Legal Metrology GATC Rules now cover 18 categories of instruments, significantly enhancing consumer protection and accuracy in trade This public-private partnership initiative supports Atmanirbhar Bharat by enabling private entities to contribute to India’s verification network Posted On: 29 DEC …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theeducationoverview.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theeducationoverview.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theeducationoverview.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theeducationoverview.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theeducationoverview.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15950"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theeducationoverview.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15953,"href":"https:\/\/theeducationoverview.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15950\/revisions\/15953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theeducationoverview.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theeducationoverview.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theeducationoverview.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theeducationoverview.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}