Gold jewellery to have mandatory hallmarking from June 15

Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Piyush Goyal said that hallmarking of jewellery and artefacts is necessary to increase the confidence of gold jewellery, purity, quality to increase customer satisfaction. This will help in transforming India into a major gold market centre across the world. Hallmarking will become mandatory on June 15 on gold jewellery and artefacts.

New Delhi: Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Piyush Goyal said that hallmarking of jewellery and artefacts is necessary to increase the confidence of gold jewellery, purity, quality to increase customer satisfaction. This will help in transforming India into a major gold market centre across the world.

Hallmarking will become mandatory on June 15 on gold jewellery and artefacts. The Central Consumer Affairs Department has taken this decision. Jewellers will be allowed to sell only 14, 18, 22-carat gold jewellery. Gold hallmarking also guarantees purity.

This decision will prevent fraud in the purchase of gold ornaments and will prevent the selling or buying of stolen jewellery. On the jewellery, there will be BIS number, carat-finance, hallmarking centre number, jewellers' identification number. There is an additional tax of Rs 35 for a hallmark on jewellery, gold items, but while there will be a minimum of Rs 200 plus tax for the purity of jewellery. These taxes will not increase the price of gold.

From June 15, a committee has been formed for the new arrangement to sell jewellery. This committee will resolve issues related to hallmarking. The committee has been formed under the chairmanship of the Director-General of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Pramod Tiwari. The important members of the committee are Nidhi Khare, Secretary of, Central Consumer Affairs Department along with a representative of the Jewellery Association and Hallmarking bodies.

Earlier, the hallmarking rules were to be implemented from all over the country from June 1, but the date has been extended to June 15, because of the Covid-19 crisis. Hallmarking process will be done at hallmarking centres across the country. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) will monitor it. At present, only 40 per cent of gold jewellery is hallmarked. The BIS has been running the hallmarking scheme on gold jewellery since the year 2000. Now from June 15, only hallmarked jewellery will be sold in the country.