Draft Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2025

Draft Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2025: The Department of Consumer Affairs, GOI, has recently issued the Draft Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2025, aimed at synchronizing time across India.

  • About the provisions of the Draft Rules:

o Mandatory Use of IST: Standard time reference for legal, administrative, and commercial activities.

o Synchronization Protocols: Adoption of NTP and PTP by public institutions and government offices.

o Cybersecurity Measures: Ensure resilience against cyber-attacks/disruptions.

o Exceptions: Allowed for scientific, astronomical, and navigational purposes with prior approval.

o Monitoring and Compliance: Regular audits, penalties for violations.

  • Objective:

o Ensure “One Nation, One Time” by standardizing Indian Standard Time (IST) across all sectors.

o Achieve precision in IST dissemination with millisecond to microsecond accuracy.

  • Importance of IST Synchronization

o Critical sectors: Navigation, telecommunications, banking, power grids, digital governance, scientific research (e.g., deep space navigation, gravitational wave detection).

o Current Challenge: Many TSPs/ISPs rely on foreign time sources like GPS, impacting national security and critical infrastructure operations.