ELCINA has clarified this matter with secretary, Consumer Affairs, Government of India as well as with joint secretary, Consumer Affairs.
In a recent issue, ELCINA has been instrumental in providing relief to the distributors of electronics companies. The electronics association has been seeking the exemption for electronic components, connectors, relays and switches from the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules of the subject Act. The basis is that these are intermediate products sold to industrial consumers, either directly or through Distributors or Stockists. Thus, these rules and MRP Assessment System does not apply to the components, which are covered under Tariff Head 8536.
In a statement issued to its members, ELCINA revealed, “We believe that in some state officials of Department of Metrology have been confiscating goods from distributors of our Members who are selling these goods to individual clients. This is being done due to misinterpretation of the explanation given in Rule 2A of the said rules which state that ‘Industrial Consumer – means those consumers who buy packaged commodities directly from the manufacturers/packers for using the product in their industry for production, etc.’
ELCINA has clarified this matter with secretary, consumer affairs, Government of India as well as with joint secretary, consumer affairs. The authorities have categorically stated that these products viz. Connectors, Relays and Switches under HS Code 8536 are not covered under these rules and a suitable clarification will be issued in this regard in the very near future.
ELCINA has also issued certain guidelines for members affected by such harassment, hoping that this will help. Any member facing a problem may contact ELCINA for further issues in this regard. The members facing such issues are requested to do the following:
1. Put stickers immediately on all their packages in stock with their distributors as well as with themselves saying- “FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY”,
(Exempted from Standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 1977 – Amended Rule 2A).
2. In case such harassment takes place, they may contact the Director for Legal Metrology in their respective States where such an unwarranted action has been taken against the Members’ Distributors for immediate redressal of their problems.
