Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to stop female foeticides and arrest the declining sex ratio in India. The act banned prenatal sex determination. The main purpose of enacting the act is to ban the use of sex selection techniques after conception and prevent the misuse of prenatal diagnostic technique for sex selective abortion. Sex selection is any act of identifying the sex of the foetus and elimination of the foetus if it is of the unwanted sex.

Compulsory registration

The Act mandates compulsory registration of all diagnostic laboratories, all genetic counselling centres, genetic laboratories, genetic clinics and ultrasound clinics.

Main provisions in the act are
1.The Act provides for the prohibition of sex selection, before or after conception.
It regulates the use of pre-natal diagnostic techniques, like ultrasound and amniocentesis by allowing them their use only to detect :
⇒ Genetic abnormalities
⇒ Metabolic disorders
⇒ Chromosomal abnormalities
⇒ Certain congenital malformations
⇒ Haemoglobinopathies
⇒ Sex linked disorders.
2.No laboratory or centre or clinic will conduct any test including ultrasonography for the purpose of determining the sex of the foetus.
3.No person, including the one who is conducting the procedure as per the law, will communicate the sex of the foetus to the pregnant woman or her relatives by words, signs or any other method.
4.Any person who puts an advertisement for pre-natal and pre-conception sex determination facilities in the form of a notice, circular, label, wrapper or any document, or advertises through interior or other media in electronic or print form or engages in any visible representation made by means of hoarding, wall painting, signal, light, sound, smoke or gas, can be imprisoned for up to three years and fined Rs. 10,000.