New directive mandates Indian Standard Time (IST) for legal, commercial, and digital transactions across the country
In a landmark move, the Indian government will soon make Indian Standard Time (IST) the mandatory reference for all legal, commercial, digital, and administrative activities nationwide. Union Minister for Food and Consumer Affairs, Pralhad Joshi, made the announcement during a roundtable conference at Vigyan Bhawan on the dissemination of IST, reported timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
“For the first time in Indian history, Indian Standard Time will be the official legal time of the country,” Joshi posted on social media platform X, reinforcing the Centre’s push for a unified timekeeping framework under the vision of “One Nation, One Time.”
India mandates IST for all official systems to strengthen cybersecurity, improve digital payments, and eliminate reliance on foreign time sources
The minister emphasized that synchronized time is essential for national security, accurate forensic investigations, and secure digital transactions. Aligning all critical systems with IST is expected to bolster cyber audit processes and enhance the country’s digital infrastructure resilience.
Currently, many systems in India rely on foreign time sources, which the government sees as a security risk and inefficiency. With IST becoming the unified legal time, this change will impact sectors ranging from banking and transport to telecom and utility billing.
To facilitate implementation, the government will notify the Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2025. A draft of the rules was released earlier in January for public and stakeholder consultations.
“This move is about future-proofing our digital economy. From ATMs to forensic labs and traffic systems, synchronized time is a silent but critical layer of trust,” Joshi added during the event.
The initiative aims to eliminate time discrepancies that can impact everything from transaction validation to legal enforcement timelines and is a significant step toward streamlining India’s digital and administrative machinery.
