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Economic Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Centre wants ‘country of origin' filter on shopping apps
The Indian government is proposing that e-commerce platforms include a "country of origin" filter to enhance consumer decision-making, especially before the festive season. A virtual consultation was held with e-commerce players to explore amending the Legal Metrology Rules. While companies generally agreed, some raised concerns about technical challenges and mobile app constraints, but experts believe the change is manageable. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The Centre has floated a proposal asking e-commerce platforms to add a 'country of origin' filter to their websites and apps, a move aimed at helping consumers make quicker and more informed choices, especially ahead of the festive shopping rush, as reported by Department of Consumer Affairs on Friday held a virtual consultation with e-commerce players and industry stakeholders to explore amending the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules to introduce such a filter. The idea: enable users to sort products by country, much like how filters for price, brand, or size already work.'Many e-commerce platforms already have filters such as price range, brand, and product type. Adding one for country of origin is very much feasible and will help consumers find items based on their preference quickly. This will bring customer satisfaction,' a government official most platforms only mention the country of origin in the product description section — something shoppers must manually scroll through, one item at a there was broad consensus among companies on the viability of the proposal, some flagged potential tech challenges, especially around tweaking existing algorithms and mobile UI constraints.'There was almost a consensus among the participants, including from major e-commerce firms, and they said this would need change in the algorithm to create this new filter feature. We will hold more deliberations with the stakeholders,' said another sources said the meeting was exploratory in nature. 'For marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, and Myntra, it would be more of a tech issue, which can be solved. But for companies that hold inventory, there may be an added compliance burden,' said one executive from a leading platform added that screen space on mobile apps is already tight. 'It could be quite draining for the industry. And the expectation of the ministry is to get it done before the festive season if it gets implemented,' he Meena, adviser at market research firm Datum Intelligence, said that while the change could affect product visibility for some international brands, it may not have a major operational impact.'If this is implemented, customers will be able to filter out products based on their country of origin, which means that some brands on these platforms could lose visibility. Until now, not many consumers paid so much attention to a product's country of origin. But overall, it shouldn't be a very big challenge for platforms,' Meena added that for quick-commerce platforms, where food and groceries dominate, the change is unlikely to have much of an impact, as most of their goods are domestically sourced.
Time of India
19-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Govt to shortly notify rules for mandatory use of Indian Standard Time: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi
New Delhi: The government has decided to make mandatory the use of Indian Standard Time for all legal, commercial, digital and administrative activities, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday. This initiative will translate into more secure digital transactions, accurate billing in utilities, reduced cybercrime risks and synchronized timekeeping in transportation and communication. Presently, several systems rely on foreign sources of time. To make Indian Standard Time (IST) mandatory, the government will shortly notify Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2025. The draft rules were issued in January 2025 for stakeholders' feedback. On Wednesday, the Department of Consumer Affairs organized a round table conference on Time Dissemination here. Joshi emphasized on the strategic significance of the Time Dissemination Project being implemented by the department in collaboration with CSIR-NPL and ISRO. He said the upcoming rules will mandate synchronization of all legal, commercial, digital and administrative activities with IST, "prohibiting the use of alternative time references unless explicitly authorised". "We are notifying the rules. In that, we are now One Nation One Time... These rules will be mandated very shortly. Exact date will be decided at a later stage," Joshi told reporters here. "In today's data-driven world, the un-synchronised clocks lead to digital mismatches, investigation challenges and network inefficiencies. Several systems currently rely on foreign timing sources like GPS, posing the risk of cyber attacks, inconsistency and non-traceable time stamps," he said. This project addresses a long-standing gap of institutionalising the IST as the official legal time of India, the minister said. "Since we have decided to implement and notify these that is going to be mandatory, we had a round table conference of all stakeholders...," the minister said adding that "very shortly, IST will be a reality. We will have our own time". The conference witnessed active participation from over 100 stakeholders representing sectors, including telecom, financial services and railways. "For the common man, this initiative translates into more secure digital transactions, accurate billing in utilities, reduced cybercrime risks and synchronized timekeeping in transportation and communication, ensuring fairness, transparency, and trust in day-to-day services," an official statement said. The minister underscored that precise and uniform dissemination of IST across sectors such as financial markets, power grids, telecommunications, transportation and others are essential to ensuring fairness, accuracy and national security. "The initiative aims to deliver IST with millisecond to microsecond accuracy through five Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSLs) equipped with atomic clocks and secure synchronization protocols like NTP and PTP," it added. Nidhi Khare, secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, said " So far we were dependent on external sources for time dissemination. We have Indianised the entire ecosystem of time and the department is now ready with the dissemination process." She stressed on the need for accurate, secure and legally mandated dissemination of IST to ensure uniformity across strategic and non-strategic sectors. She explained that under the Time Dissemination Project, the department in collaboration with CSIR-NPL and ISRO is establishing an advanced infrastructure comprising five Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSLs) in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Faridabad, and Guwahati. These centres are being equipped with atomic clocks and secure synchronization systems using Network Time Protocol (NTP) and Precision Time Protocol (PTP) to ensure millisecond to microsecond accuracy. The secretary's presentation outlined the risks posed by current reliance on foreign time sources, including cybersecurity vulnerabilities like spoofing and jamming. She stated that the implementation of these rules would be a crucial step toward ensuring traceability, enhancing operational reliability, and fostering national time sovereignty. The initiative is a major step in building a trusted and standardized digital ecosystem across the country. The Time Dissemination initiative is the result of sustained inter-ministerial coordination and technical consultations since 2018. Participating stakeholders supported the government's plan to notify the rules, the statement said.
India Today
19-06-2025
- Business
- India Today
One Nation, One Time: India takes a big step towards time uniformity
India has taken a significant step toward streamlining and improving time management. The Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, held a Roundtable Conference in New Delhi to promote the idea of "One Nation, One Time" as a formal policy. This initiative aims to ensure that Indian Standard Time (IST) becomes the only official time used for all commercial and legal activities throughout the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal, and Mines, Pralhad Joshi, explained the government's intention to formally advance the time reference by proposing new legal guidelines - Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules 2025 - that would limit time references for any legal or commercial purposes. Doing so would prohibit time references to anything other than what the government and the public want. One Nation, One Time: India takes a big step towards time uniformity The government is establishing five Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSLs) in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Faridabad, and Guwahati to improve the accuracy and traceability of Indian Standard Time (IST). Each RRSL will include atomic clocks and utilize secure delivery technologies such as Network Time Protocol (NTP) and Precision Time Protocol (PTP), ensuring IST accuracy at the millisecond to microsecond level. This initiative aims to enhance coordination among various sectors, including banking, stock exchanges, electricity supply, telecommunications, and transport, all of which rely on consistent By improving time distribution, India will also reduce its dependence on Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, which is susceptible to interference. The government acknowledges that precise timekeeping is essential for effective governance. Nidhi Khare, the Secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs, emphasised the need for a reliable mechanism to provide accurate time information to the public and various project involved over 100 experts and representatives from organizations such as ISRO, CSIR-NPL, NSE, and major telecom companies. Since 2018, more than 60 meetings have taken place, with Bharat Khera, Additional Secretary, highlighting the goal of enhancing government operations through improved accuracy and ordinary citizens, this initiative offers direct benefits, including:- More secure online payments-Accurate billing for electricity, water, and other services-Better timing and coordination in transport and communications-Lower risk of cybercrimeIncreased trust, fairness, and transparency in daily services
The Print
18-06-2025
- Business
- The Print
Govt to shortly notify rules for mandatory use of Indian Standard Time: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi
To make Indian Standard Time (IST) mandatory, the government will shortly notify Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2025. The draft rules were issued in January 2025 for stakeholders' feedback. This initiative will translate into more secure digital transactions, accurate billing in utilities, reduced cybercrime risks and synchronized timekeeping in transportation and communication. Presently, several systems rely on foreign sources of time. New Delhi, Jun 18 (PTI) The government has decided to make mandatory the use of Indian Standard Time for all legal, commercial, digital and administrative activities, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday. On Wednesday, the Department of Consumer Affairs organized a round table conference on Time Dissemination here. Joshi emphasized on the strategic significance of the Time Dissemination Project being implemented by the department in collaboration with CSIR-NPL and ISRO. He said the upcoming rules will mandate synchronization of all legal, commercial, digital and administrative activities with IST, 'prohibiting the use of alternative time references unless explicitly authorised'. 'We are notifying the rules. In that, we are now One Nation One Time… These rules will be mandated very shortly. Exact date will be decided at a later stage,' Joshi told reporters here. 'In today's data-driven world, the un-synchronised clocks lead to digital mismatches, investigation challenges and network inefficiencies. Several systems currently rely on foreign timing sources like GPS, posing the risk of cyber attacks, inconsistency and non-traceable time stamps,' he said. This project addresses a long-standing gap of institutionalising the IST as the official legal time of India, the minister said. 'Since we have decided to implement and notify these rules…and that is going to be mandatory, we had a round table conference of all stakeholders…,' the minister said adding that 'very shortly, IST will be a reality. We will have our own time'. The conference witnessed active participation from over 100 stakeholders representing sectors, including telecom, financial services and railways. 'For the common man, this initiative translates into more secure digital transactions, accurate billing in utilities, reduced cybercrime risks and synchronized timekeeping in transportation and communication, ensuring fairness, transparency, and trust in day-to-day services,' an official statement said. The minister underscored that precise and uniform dissemination of IST across sectors such as financial markets, power grids, telecommunications, transportation and others are essential to ensuring fairness, accuracy and national security. 'The initiative aims to deliver IST with millisecond to microsecond accuracy through five Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSLs) equipped with atomic clocks and secure synchronization protocols like NTP and PTP,' it added. Nidhi Khare, secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, said ' So far we were dependent on external sources for time dissemination. We have Indianised the entire ecosystem of time and the department is now ready with the dissemination process.' She stressed on the need for accurate, secure and legally mandated dissemination of IST to ensure uniformity across strategic and non-strategic sectors. She explained that under the Time Dissemination Project, the department in collaboration with CSIR-NPL and ISRO is establishing an advanced infrastructure comprising five Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSLs) in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Faridabad, and Guwahati. These centres are being equipped with atomic clocks and secure synchronization systems using Network Time Protocol (NTP) and Precision Time Protocol (PTP) to ensure millisecond to microsecond accuracy. The secretary's presentation outlined the risks posed by current reliance on foreign time sources, including cybersecurity vulnerabilities like spoofing and jamming. She stated that the implementation of these rules would be a crucial step toward ensuring traceability, enhancing operational reliability, and fostering national time sovereignty. The initiative is a major step in building a trusted and standardized digital ecosystem across the country. The Time Dissemination initiative is the result of sustained inter-ministerial coordination and technical consultations since 2018. Participating stakeholders supported the government's plan to notify the rules, the statement said. PTI MJH ANU This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
The Hindu
18-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
New rules will synchronise use of IST for legal, commercial activities, says Pralhad Joshi
The Union Consumer Affairs Ministry said here on Wednesday (June 18, 2025) that the proposed Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules will mandate synchronisation of all legal, administrative and commercial operations with IST, making India's timekeeping infrastructure legally enforceable, digitally secure and globally bench-marked. Briefing reporters after a 'Round Table Conference on Time Dissemination', Union Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said it is strategically significant to synchronise all legal, commercial and administrative activities with the IST so that the use of alternative time references, unless explicitly authorised, could be prohibited. He said precise and uniform dissemination of IST across sectors such as financial markets, power grids, telecommunications, transportation and others are essential to ensure fairness, accuracy and national security. 'The initiative aims to deliver IST with millisecond to microsecond accuracy through five Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSLs) equipped with atomic clocks and secure synchronisation protocols like NTP (Network Time Protocol) and PTP (Precision Time Protocol), ushering in a new era of digital and administrative efficiency under the vision of 'One Nation, One Time',' Mr. Joshi said. Nidhi Khare, Secretary of the Ministry, said there was an urgent need for accurate, secure and legally mandated dissemination of IST to ensure uniformity across strategic and non-strategic sectors. She said under the Time Dissemination Project, the Ministry in collaboration with the Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research – National Physical Laboratory (CSIR–NPL) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is establishing advanced infrastructure comprising five RRSLs in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Faridabad, and Guwahati. She said the current reliance on foreign time sources poses risks such as cybersecurity vulnerabilities like spoofing and jamming. She added that the implementation of the new rules would be a crucial step toward ensuring traceability, enhancing operational reliability, and fostering national time sovereignty. 'The initiative, is a major step in building a trusted and standardised digital ecosystem across the country,' she added.
