NE BUSINESS BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, JAN 16
The government will make the process of hallmarking of gold jewellery mandatory from Wednesday, but it will give one year time to jewellers to register themselves with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and clear their old stock. A notification to make mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery from January 15, 2021 will be issued by the Consumer Affairs Ministry. Addressing the media, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan said, “the purpose of making hallmarking mandatory for gold jewellery and artefacts is to ensure that consumers are not cheated while buying gold ornaments and get the purity as marked on the ornaments.”
The government on Wednesday exempted gold jewellery, artefacts below 2 gram from mandatory hallmarking. In a gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, mandatory hallmarking has been made applicable from January 15, 2021, across the country.
Silver jewellery and articles have been kept out of mandatory hallmarking as of now.
All jewellers who want to sell gold jewellery have to take BIS registration. As of now, 28, 849 jewellers have registered with BIS. Of these, nearly 3000 jewellers took registration in the last three months on the expectation of hallmarking becoming mandatory.
However, the total number of jewellers are several times higher. Jewellers holding jewellery which is not hallmarked have to clear that stock in a one year time. Only 14, 18 and 22 karat jewellery can be sold. Other pure gold jewellery, even if hallmarked, cannot be sold.
Welcoming the Centre’s move, Ajoy Chawla, CEO – Jewellery Division, Titan Company Limited said, “Tanishq welcomes the compulsory hallmarking move by Government of India as customers will benefit significantly. Purity is a key issue in the Indian jewellery industry and we are confident this move will nudge the industry towards formalisation. We hope the quality and capacity of assaying centers is adequately addressed in the year ahead to ensure smooth execution”
THE TEN GOLDEN RULES
- Gold hallmarking is a purity certification of the precious metal and is voluntary in nature at present.
- Hallmarking will be done for jewellery in 3 categories – 14 carat, 18 carat and 22 carat.
- Right now, ten grades of gold jewellery is available.
- The mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery will protect buyers against lower carratage.
- The mandatory hallmarking will also ensure that consumers don’t get cheated while buying gold ornaments and get the same purity and carat as marked on the ornament.
- If jewellery or artefacts made of 14, 18 and 22 carat gold are sold without a BIS hallmark, then the jeweller could attract penalty and imprisonment of one year, PTI quoted Ram Vilas Paswan as saying.
- Hallmark on gold jewellery now has four marks: BIS mark, purity in carat, assay centre’s name and jewellers’ identification mark.
- An awareness campaign on mandatory hallmarking for jewellers and common consumers will be organized at various locations across the country.
- The BIS is already running a hallmarking scheme for gold jewellery since April 2000 and around 40 per cent of gold jewellery is being hallmarked currently.
- As on 31st December 2019, there are 892 Assaying and Hallmarking centres spread in 234 District locations across the country and so far 28,849 jewellers have been registered by BIS.
