Rules 7 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Chapter III of the General Rules covers the balances used to verify standard weights. Rule 7 is for reference standard balances, rule 8 for secondary standard balances and rule 9 for working standard balances, each tied to a Part of the Fourth Schedule. Rule 10 lets the Central Government specify other standard equipment.
A set of balances must be kept wherever the matching tier of standard weights is kept: reference balances verify secondary standards, secondary balances verify working standards, working balances verify weights used in transactions or for protection. Each balance must be verified at least once in six months (reference), one year (secondary) and a year (working) and adjusted if needed. The Fourth Schedule sets their specifications. Rule 10 allows the Central Government to specify other standard equipment by notification.
The chain of balances
Rules 7 to 9 are a chain. Rule 3 to 5 give the tiers of standard weights (see rules 3 to 6); these rules give the balances used to compare them.
| Rule | Balance | Kept where | Used to verify | Fourth Schedule | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Reference standard balances | At every place where reference standard weights are kept | Secondary standards | Part I | At least once in six months |
| 8 | Secondary standard balances | At every place where secondary standard weights are kept | Working standards | Part II | At least once in one year |
| 9 | Working standard balances | At every place where working standard weights are kept | Weights intended for use in transactions or for protection | Part III | At least once in a year |
Each balance must, if necessary, be adjusted "to make it correct within the limits of sensitivity and other metrological qualities" set in its Part of the Fourth Schedule.
If you run a verification or test facility and want the set of balances checked against the Rules, our legal consultation service can help you read the rule and the Schedule.
Rule by rule
Rule 7: reference standard balances
Sub-rule (1): "A set of reference standard balances shall be maintained at every place where the reference standard weights are kept for the purpose of verification of secondary standards." Sub-rule (2): the number, types and specifications are as in Part I of the Fourth Schedule. Sub-rule (3): every reference standard balance "shall be verified at least once in six months and shall be adjusted, if necessary".
Rule 8: secondary standard balances
Sub-rule (1): a set of secondary standard balances at every place where secondary standard weights are kept, for verification of working standards. Sub-rule (2): number, types and specifications per Part II. Sub-rule (3): verified "at least once in one year" and adjusted if necessary.
Rule 9: working standard balances
Sub-rule (1): a set of working standard balances at every place where working standard weights are kept, for verification of weights "intended to be used for the purpose of transaction or protection". Sub-rule (2): number, types and specifications per Part III. Sub-rule (3): verified "at least once in a year" and adjusted if necessary.
The text does not say who performs the verification of the balances, or where the records are kept. Section 9 of the Act requires standards to be verified and stamped as prescribed; see sections 9 and 10.
Rule 10: other standard equipment
"The Central Government may, by notification, specify such other standard equipment as it may think necessary to carry out the provisions of the Act and every such standard equipment shall conform, as regards the metrological qualities, to such specifications as the Central Government may, in the same notification or subsequent notification, specify." Like rule 6 for standards, this leaves room to add equipment without amending the Rules. The text does not say what equipment has been so specified.
The Fourth Schedule
The Fourth Schedule, headed "Specifications for standard equipment" and cited as "See Rules 7, 8 and 9", has three Parts. The scan is partly garbled in its tables, so what follows is a description of what is readable, with no tables reproduced.
| Part | Balance | What is specified (readable points) |
|---|---|---|
| I | Reference standard balances | Robust construction and metrological qualities for continued good performance; an overall precision of measurement stated for larger weights and in milligrams for the smallest weights |
| II | Secondary standard balances | A table of capacity, sensitivity figure, minimum scale division, maximum variation in sensitivity with load and minimum overall accuracy; the standard deviation of ten consecutive rest points must not exceed one scale division; limits on deviation in arm ratio and on variation in time periods (not more than 20 per cent); knife-edges must be separable when the balance is at rest; normally for indoor laboratory use; digital types must meet stated verification scale intervals |
| III | Working standard balances | Two types allowed, equi-arm and digital; the same style of limits on sensitivity, variation, arm ratio and time period; the standard deviation of ten consecutive rest points must not exceed one scale division; indoor-type balances must have the knife-edge arrest device; digital types must meet stated verification scale intervals |
Two readable details in Part III deserve notice. First, the digital working balance table lists which weights each capacity may verify, separated into "bullion" and "non-bullion" weights. Second, a Note says that "for verification of bullion or carat weights, only indoor type working standard balances shall be used". The numerical values in these tables are damaged in the scan and are not quoted here.
What the rules and the Schedule do not say
- They do not say how a balance is verified, who does it or what record follows.
- They do not say whether a person other than the Government may hold a set of balances; they are addressed to "every place where" the standard weights are kept.
- They do not cover the balances used by ordinary traders. Rule 13 and the Seventh Schedule cover weighing instruments for use in transactions. See rule 13 on weighing instruments.
Practical examples
Example 1. A State verification office keeps secondary standard weights in its laboratory. Rule 8(1) requires a set of secondary standard balances there, for verifying working standards. Under rule 8(3) each balance must be verified at least once in a year and adjusted if needed.
Example 2. A national laboratory keeps reference standard weights. Rule 7(3) requires its reference balances to be verified at least once in six months, twice as often as the secondary balances.
Example 3. A test centre wants to verify a bullion weight using a digital working balance. The Note to Part III says only indoor-type working standard balances are to be used for bullion or carat weights, so the choice of balance matters.
Need help reading the balance rules?
The balance rules depend on which tier of standard you hold and where. Our legal consultation service can help you map your equipment to rules 7 to 10 and the Fourth Schedule, and check figures against the gazette.
Key takeaways
- Rules 7, 8 and 9 require reference, secondary and working standard balances wherever the corresponding standard weights are kept.
- Verification intervals are at least six months (reference), one year (secondary) and a year (working).
- The Fourth Schedule gives three Parts of specifications; the scanned tables are partly garbled.
- Bullion and carat weights are verified only on indoor-type working standard balances.
- Rule 10 allows other standard equipment to be specified by notification.
- Read numeric values from the gazette; State rules are separate.
Read next
- Rules 3 to 6 of the General Rules: Reference, secondary and working standards
- First, Second and Third Schedules: standard specifications
- Rule 11 of the General Rules: Weights and the Fifth Schedule
- How to get verification of weights and measures
Disclaimer: Based on the Legal Metrology (General) Rules, 2011 (the source is a two-column scan with garbling, so tables and figures must be checked against the gazette) and the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 (Act 1 of 2010) as enacted, read with the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 (in force) and the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2026 (in force only from the date the Central Government notifies), as on 30 September 2026. Section 9 is not amended by either Jan Vishwas Act. State Legal Metrology rules, later amendments and notifications change; verify the current position before acting.