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A Private Member’s Bill was recently introduced in Parliament which seeks to introduce quality control of central optical equipment and regulation of vision care. The proposed bill, introduced by MP Ajeet Madhavrao Gopchade, seeks to offer a remedy to the alleged vulnerability of consumers who, by law, are in a “no man’s land” between the manufacture of the lens and its delivery.
“While the National Allied and Health Professions Commission Act 2021 regulates practitioners and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act regulates ‘facilities’ at the factory level, there is zero specific legislative oversight at the retail point of sale. This loophole allows unscrupulous elements to operate testing clinics and retail stores without any technical negligence, leading to any medical negligence.”
Glasses as a spectacle
In a question raised in the Rajya Sabha last month, the MP asked the Union Health Ministry whether it was aware that a substantial section of the Indian population relies on spectacles and contact lenses for day-to-day activities, making accurate vision correction a critical public safety and public health issue, and whether the absence of a unified national regulatory mechanism for optometric services covering eye testing, prescription accuracy and professional quality road vision and fitting lens can adversely affect the quality of vision on roads, accidents. He also asked whether the government was proposing to review international best practices and was considering setting up a statutory national optical regulatory committee to ensure quality?
In its response, the ministry said that according to data from the 2019 Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) national survey, refractive errors are responsible for visual impairment in 13.4% of the population over 50 and 29.6% of the population under 50.
She added that the National Commission for Allied and Health Professions (NCAHP) was established to, among other things, regulate and maintain the standards of education and services of allied and health professionals listed in the NCAHP Act 2021.
“The profession of optometrist (ISCO code 2267) falls under Sl. No 5 (Ophthalmic Sciences Professional) Schedule of NCAHP Act, 2021. The syllabus for optometry was issued by the National Commission for Allied and Health Professions (NCAHP) on 24.04.2025 on the Standard Control Organization website, further on the NCACHP website. It regulates the quality, safety and performance of medical devices under the provisions of the Medicines and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the Medical Devices Rules 2017 thereunder Eyeglasses/contact lenses intended for the correction of vision are regulated as medical devices under the Medical Devices Rules 2017 and are required to meet applicable standards to ensure quality, safety and performance as prescribed under the said rules.
Meanwhile, the proposed law said in its draft that uncorrected or poorly corrected refractive errors are a “silent tax” on the Indian economy and that a significant percentage of road accidents in India can be traced back to poor driver vision. He added that due to lack of quality enforcement at the retail level, India has become a dumping ground for low-quality plastic lenses without UV protection and carcinogenic lenses from international markets.
He added that with the massive increase in screen time across all age groups, the quality of “blue-cut” and “anti-reflective” coatings has become a medical necessity.
Published – 25 March 2026 21:51 IST
