Businesses found giving consumers less than the quantity they have paid for could face tough action, with a new Bill proposing heavy fines, jail terms and wider powers for inspectors to detect and punish the practice.
The Legal Metrology Bill, 2026, seeks to change how weighing and measuring equipment is controlled in the country, with traders and manufacturers who use false or altered equipment facing penalties of up to Sh5 million or five years in prison.
The Bill, sponsored by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, seeks to repeal the Weights and Measures Act and replace it with a new system for regulating weighing and measuring equipment used in business.
The proposed law comes against concerns that consumers may at times be getting less than the amounts shown on product labels.
Bread, cement and some liquid products have been cited among goods where the actual quantity supplied may not match the amount indicated.
The proposed measures would give inspectors stronger powers to check businesses and take action against those found breaking the law.
Inspectors would be allowed to enter shops, factories, warehouses, markets and other business premises to examine and test equipment used to weigh or measure goods.
They would also be able to stop vehicles carrying products meant for sale or delivery and access places where goods have already been delivered to customers.
During an inspection, officers could in certain circumstances open containers holding goods or vending machines to check what is being sold.
The Bill also proposes powers to stop, detain and arrest without a warrant anyone suspected of committing an offence under the proposed law.
However, an arrest without a warrant would only be allowed in specific circumstances. These include cases where a suspect blocks an inspector from doing their work, is likely to fail to respond to a summons, refuses to give their name and address, or gives information the inspector considers false.
Inspectors would also be allowed to search people found with weighing or measuring equipment suspected to have been used in an offence.
The proposed law would cover a wide range of equipment used in commercial dealings. These include weighing scales, fuel dispensers, water meters, electricity meters and other devices used to determine quantities.
Anyone convicted of using false weighing or measuring equipment would face a fine ranging from Sh10,000 to Sh5 million, a prison term of up to five years, or both.
The equipment used to commit the offence would also be taken over by the state.
The Bill further seeks to stop traders from interfering with equipment that has been approved for use.
It would be an offence to destroy or alter official verification stamps, forge calibration certificates or change equipment in a way that causes it to give wrong readings.
The sale or transfer of weighing equipment with fake verification stamps would also be prohibited. The same would apply to equipment that has not gone through official certification.
Equipment found to have an error beyond the maximum level allowed under regulations would be treated as false or unjust under the proposed law.
The Bill also introduces undercover checks through “test purchases”, allowing inspectors to act as ordinary customers when investigating suspected cheating.
Inspectors would be permitted to buy products from traders and use the transaction to establish whether the business is following the required standards.
Following a test purchase, the officers could search the premises, recover the money used to buy the goods and keep any change received during the transaction as evidence for a court case.
The proposed changes would therefore give enforcement officers a wider role in protecting consumers from businesses that use inaccurate equipment or deliberately provide quantities below those promised.
They would also require traders and manufacturers to ensure that equipment used in their businesses remains properly certified and gives accurate measurements.