Weighing scale stamping validity period — what Rule 27(2) actually says
Rule 27(2)(a) names weights, beam scales and counter machines at twenty-four months. An electronic or spring balance is not named there, so taulnama reads it into the residual clause (c) at twelve — two things on the same counter, two clocks. That reading is ours, not a ruling; the period is editable per instrument, and the sheet prints your number with the default it replaced beside it.
taulnama keeps one durable row per weighing instrument and per test weight — make, capacity, class, stamp date, certificate number, fee paid, next due — and prints an inspection-ready A4 sheet for the shop file. It is a once-a-year-at-home job with a shoebox of old stamping receipts, not something you type during trading hours.
Who this is actually for
A shop with roughly five or more instruments — a grain trader, a dairy, a jeweller with several balances, a hardware shop, a petrol pump. That is where one A4 sheet carrying every instrument, its clause, its next-due date and the statute underneath beats six loose certificates in a shoebox, and where the 12-versus-24 split across a set of instruments is doing real work.
If you own one scale and one weight set, you probably do not need this. Your verification certificate is already on the wall by law with the stamp date on it, there are two dates to remember, and a phone reminder does the job. We would rather say that than sell you a register for two rows. taulnama also runs as a desktop binary, so somebody in the family needs a laptop; there is no phone app.
The rule, verbatim
Rule 27, Periodical verification of weights or measures, Legal Metrology (General) Rules, 2011. Sub-rule (2) opens:
“The re-verification shall be carried out on the completion of a period of, -”
| Punch | Clause | What it says, word for word |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | 27(2)(a) | “twenty four months for all weights, capacity measures, length measures, tape, beam scale and counter machine” |
| 60 | 27(2)(b) | “sixty months for storage tanks” |
| 12 | 27(2)(c) | “twelve months for all weight or measure including tank lorry other than that mentioned in clauses (a) & (b)” |
Transcribed from the primary text at
indiankanoon.org/doc/67045693/, read on 2026-08-04. Clause (b) says
sixty. Several secondary pages render it as six; they contradict the rule they
are summarising.
Rule 27 does not stop at sub-rule (2)
Two more sub-rules override the number above, and taulnama cannot apply either of them for you — it has no way to know they happened:
“(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (2) every weight or measure which has been verified and stamped in situ shall, if it is dismantled and re-installed before the date on which the verification falls due shall be duly re-verified and stamped, before being put into use. (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1) every weight or measure which has been verified and stamped shall, if it is repaired before the date on which the verification falls due shall be duly re-verified and stamped before being put into use.”
So a scale repaired in March needs re-verifying before it goes back on the counter, whatever days-left the sheet shows. That sentence prints at the top of page 1 of every inspection sheet, above the register it qualifies — not in a footnote under it.
A worked example: one stamp date, two clocks
A grain trader has an electronic counter scale, a beam scale and a brass weight set all
stamped on the same day, 2026-04-10, on one ₹1,000 receipt. On
2027-04-11 the register reads:
| Instrument | Group | Period taulnama applies | Next due | Standing | Share of the receipt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic counter scale 30 kg | 12 | 12 months — Rule 27(2)(c) | 2027-04-10 | 1 DAY PAST THE DATE · DUE QUARTER B RUNS TO 30 Jun 2027 | ₹333.34 |
| Beam scale 20 kg | 24 | 24 months — Rule 27(2)(a) | 2028-04-10 | OK — 365 DAYS LEFT | ₹333.33 |
| Brass weight set 5 g – 5 kg | 24 | 24 months — Rule 27(2)(a) | 2028-04-10 | OK — 365 DAYS LEFT | ₹333.33 |
| Electronic platform scale 100 kg | 24 | 24 months — set by you. Default is 12 under clause (c). | 2028-04-10 | OK — 365 DAYS LEFT | — |
The first row is one day past taulnama's day-exact arithmetic, and the chip says exactly that and no more. It does not say OVERDUE, because departments reckon lateness by quarter: the stamp records the year and quarter of verification and carries no day, so a scale whose anniversary fell on 10 April 2027 sits in quarter B and is commonly treated as due through 30 June 2027. Once that quarter has ended the chip does read OVERDUE, and still names the quarter it names — the qualifier never travels apart from the number.
The three shares add to ₹1,000.00 exactly — largest remainder to the paisa, so one row carries the odd paisa rather than the total drifting. The fourth row is in its own group with an outline punch and no clause quoted above it: the shop set that period, so there is no statutory sentence that governs it, and printing clause (a)'s list of named categories over an electronic balance would be the app asserting something the rule does not say.
What it records, and what it refuses to
Per instrument: label, category, make, model, serial number, capacity, accuracy class, location, and every stamping event with its date, optional certificate number, LM office, fee and note. It prints the register grouped 12 → 24 → 60 then by anything you set yourself, plus a due list.
It records when an instrument was stamped and when that period ends. It says nothing about whether the instrument weighs correctly — no calibration, no drift estimate, no accuracy claim. There is no compliance verdict: the section 33 penalty text is quoted verbatim on the sheet and is never multiplied by a row count. An empty register prints the words “that is not a clean bill of health — it means nothing has been entered”, never an all-clear.
What it will not do
No credit, udhaar or dues ledger of any kind — a stamping fee here is a one-off amount on a durable asset row, never a running balance. No staff attendance or salary register. No invoices, GST or stock. No government portal, e-filing, appointment booking or agent directory. No SMS, WhatsApp or email reminders. No accounts, no sync, no cloud, and no internet at runtime. taulnama ships five cited rows — three period clauses, one re-stamp row carrying sub-rules (3) and (4) together, and one penalty line — and zero fee figures.
Questions people actually ask
What does Rule 27(2) actually say about re-verification periods?
Sub-rule (2) opens with 'The re-verification shall be carried out on the completion of a period of, -' and then gives three clauses: (a) twenty four months for all weights, capacity measures, length measures, tape, beam scale and counter machine; (b) sixty months for storage tanks; and (c) twelve months for all weight or measure including tank lorry other than that mentioned in clauses (a) & (b). Those are the three periods, quoted verbatim from the primary text on indiankanoon.org.
Is an electronic weighing scale 12 months or 24 months?
The statute does not say in those words. Clause (a) names beam scales, counter machines and weights at twenty-four months; an electronic or spring balance is not named there, so taulnama reads it into the residual clause (c) at twelve. That reading is ours, not a ruling. If your inspector treats your electronic counter scale as a counter machine the period is twenty-four, and you can set that on the row — taulnama then prints your number with the default it replaced beside it, and never quotes a statutory clause above a period you chose yourself.
Is the storage tank period six months or sixty months?
Sixty. The primary text of clause (b) reads 'sixty months for storage tanks'. Several secondary pages render it as six months; they contradict the rule they are summarising. The likely source of the confusion is Rule 5(3) of the same Rules, which requires a reference standard balance — a departmental instrument, not a shop's — to be verified once in six months. taulnama does not ship Rule 5(3), because it is not about your scale.
What happens if the scale was repaired before the period ran out?
Rule 27 does not stop at sub-rule (2). Sub-rule (3) requires an instrument verified and stamped in situ to be re-verified and stamped before being put into use if it is dismantled and re-installed before the verification falls due, and sub-rule (4) requires the same after a repair. Both override the days-left column entirely. taulnama has no way to know an instrument was repaired, so it cannot apply them for you — it quotes both sub-rules verbatim on the printed sheet and on screen, and prints that limit above every days-left figure.
How is the next-due date calculated?
The same calendar day, N months after the stamp date, clamped to the end of a short month — a 31 January stamp on a one-month period lands on 28 February, and the sheet says so on that row rather than moving it silently. The last day of the period still counts as inside it: on the due date itself the row reads DUE TODAY, not overdue. Departments reckon by QUARTER, not by day. The stamp records the year and quarter of verification — (A) Jan-Mar, (B) Apr-Jun, (C) Jul-Sep, (D) Oct-Dec — and carries no day; re-verification is commonly treated as due in the corresponding quarter of the next cycle, and penalty fees are charged per quarter or part of one. So a scale stamped in July is generally treated as due through the whole July-September quarter. Where the day-exact date has passed but that quarter has not, taulnama says PAST THE DATE and names the quarter, never OVERDUE. Confirm the date on your certificate with your Legal Metrology office.
What does stamping cost?
taulnama does not know, and says so. Stamping fees are notified state by state and could not be verified from a primary source, so the app ships six labelled fee slots with nothing in them and a permanent UNCITED banner. Every fee you see is one you typed off your own receipt. An empty slot prints a dash, never a zero-rupee figure. One receipt covering several instruments is split largest-remainder to the paisa, so the parts always sum to the receipt total exactly.
Is the printed sheet proof that my scale is verified?
No. It is a register you keep, prepared from what you typed. It is not a government document and it is not evidence of verification — your stamped certificate is. taulnama also says nothing about whether an instrument weighs correctly: it is not a calibration or accuracy check, it prints no compliance verdict, and it never multiplies the section 33 penalty text by a row count.
Where does my data go?
Nowhere. The full app is local-first: your register is a SQLite file on your own machine and the app runs on localhost. There is no account, no sync, no encryption and nothing is uploaded. This web demo keeps everything in your browser tab and a refresh resets it — use Copy a backup on the Rules screen to keep it. Nothing you type is sent anywhere. The page is not a no-network absolute, though: CanvasKit is served from this site rather than Google's CDN, and the engine's font fallback is pinned to this site's own assets folder, so requests cannot leave this origin — but they are requests to this origin.
Try it below
The register is loaded with a made-up shop that does not exist. Edit it, add your own instruments, split a receipt, print both sheets — nothing you type leaves this page.
It is not loaded yet. The interactive part is a Flutter build — roughly 11 MB of engine and app code — so this page does not download it until you ask. Everything above is plain HTML and has already finished loading.