The Draft Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2025 were published by the Legal Metrology Division, Department of Consumer Affairs recently.
- The draft is open for public consultation till 14.02.2025.
Key Highlights about the Draft Rules
- The Rules are part of a government project aimed towards achieving ‘One Nation, One Time’ by disseminating IST with millisecond to microsecond accuracy.
- The project aims to create technology and infrastructure to disseminate IST from five Legal Metrology laboratories across India.
- Aim: The rules aim to establish Indian Standard Time (IST) as the mandatory time reference across all sectors, ensuring uniformity and precision.
- Purpose: The rules prescribes the procedure for synchronization, guidelines for implementation and standards for accuracy, ensuring nationwide alignment with IST and facilitating improved governance, cybersecurity and operational efficiency.
- Formulated By: The rules are formulated by a high-power inter-ministerial committee chaired by the Secretary (Consumer Affairs), the committee also includes,
- Representatives from National Physical Laboratory (NPL), ISRO, IIT Kanpur, NIC, CERT-In, SEBI and key government departments like Railways, Telecom, and Financial Services, etc
- Reference to Time: All references to time in legal, administrative, and official documents shall be considered to refer to Indian Standard Time (IST) only.
- Mandates Synchronization: The synchronization of legal, administrative, and commercial activities with IST is mandated, prohibiting the use of alternative time references unless explicitly permitted.
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About Legal Metrology
- Metrology is the scientific study of measurement and Legal Metrology is the application of legal requirements to measurements and measuring instruments.
- Legal metrology also safeguards public safety, the environment, customers, and merchants, and is essential for fair trade.
- Legal Metrology Act, 2009: The sale or distribution of all packaged goods in India, such as export goods, food items, and consumer products, requires a Legal Metrology Certificate from the Metrology Department of Consumer Affairs, as per the Legal Metrology Act, 2009.
- Authority: Director of Legal Metrology is a statutory authority under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 relating to inter-state trade and commerce of weights and measures including pre-packaged commodities.
- Enforcement: It is done by the State Governments by the Controller of Legal Metrology and other Legal Metrology Officers as per the provisions of Act.
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- Exceptions: The use of alternative timescales (GMT, etc.) is permitted for specific purposes like scientific, astronomical and navigation etc are granted exemption from using IST but with prior government approval.
- For Public Institutions: Government offices and public institutions are required to adopt the synchronization protocols such as Network Time Protocol (NTP) and Precision Time Protocol (PTP)
- Reliability: Cybersecurity measures and alternative reference mechanisms are prescribed, to enhance resilience and reliability during cyber-attacks or disruptions.
- Compliance and Monitoring: The timescales shall be periodically audited to ensure compliance across sectors with penalties imposed for violations.
- Significance:
- Comprehensive Framework: It will achieve precise and uniform timekeeping across different sectors such as,
- Navigation, telecommunications, power grid, banking, digital governance, and cutting-edge scientific research, including deep space navigation and gravitational wave detection.
- Essential for National Security: IST as of now is not mandatorily adopted by all Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs), many of whom rely on foreign time sources like GPS.
- Real Time Applications: It will provide a unified and precise timekeeping framework for strategic, non-strategic, industrial and societal applications.
- Smooth Operation of Critical Infrastructure: These rules synchronize communication networks, banking, technological infrastructure, emerging technologies (5G technologies, artificial intelligence, IoT) and public services, enabling seamless interactions and enhancing economic efficiency.
- Industrial Competitiveness: The Rules will facilitate industries for accurate financial transactions, efficient manufacturing, enhancing technological integration and global business interactions.
- Administrative Effectiveness: It will enhance the government’s ability to conduct accurate, and coordinated enforcement activities like supporting emergency response coordination and ensure consistent scheduling of public transportation.
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About Indian Standard Time (IST)
- Indian Standard Time (IST) was adopted on 1 January 1906 during the British era and recognised as the official time for the whole country after Independence in 1947
- Indian Standard Time (IST) is based on UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) with an offset of +5:30 hours.
- Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is provided by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) located in Sevres, France.
- Longitude: IST is calculated from the reference longitude of IST at 82°30’E passing near Mirzapur Clock Tower
- Implementing Agency: CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL) is responsible for the maintenance and for keeping it traceable to the UTC with help of the Allahabad Observatory.
- Daylight Saving Time (DST): India Standard Time has not had daylight saving time since 1945.
- It was used briefly during the China–India War of 1962 and the Indo-Pakistani Wars of 1965 and 1971
- IANA Time Zone Database: It is indicated as Asia/Kolkata in the IANA time zone database.
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January 29, 2025
