What is Gold hallmarking?
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Gold hallmarking is a purity certification of precious metal.
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At present, it is voluntary in nature.
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It has been mandatory from June 2021.
Gold Hallmarking in India:
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In 2019, the Government announced that hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts will be made mandatory across the country.
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The government had given jewellers more than a year to shift to hallmarking and register themselves with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
Key Features of Gold Hallmarking:
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Hallmarked gold jewellery will only available in three grades – 14-carat, 18-carat and 22-carat. Currently, it is available in ten grades.
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The Hallmarked Gold jewellery will contain four marks. Such as BIS mark, purity in carat, assay centre’s name and jewellers’ identification mark.
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Applicability: The rule is applicable only to sales by retailers and not to consumers. However, it is available for consumers if they want to get their old jewellery hallmarked.
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Penalty: Anybody found violating the provision, will have to pay a minimum fine of Rs 1 lakh or 5 times the price of the article.
Benefits of Gold Hallmarking:
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Gold Hallmarking will protect the public against lower caratage. It also ensures consumers do not get cheated while buying gold ornaments.
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Further, it will also help to get the purity, bring in transparency and assure the consumers of quality.
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The new system will also weed out anomalies and corruption in the system of manufacturing of jewellery.
Which metals have been exempted from hallmarking?
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Export and re-import of jewellery as per Trade Policy of Government.
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Jewellery for international exhibitions and government-approved B2B domestic exhibitions.
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Watches, fountain pens, and special types of jewellery such as Kundan, Polki, and Jadau.
What was the need of making Gold Hallmarking mandatory?
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India is the biggest consumer of gold. However, the level of hallmarked jewellery is very low in the country. At present, only 30% of Indian gold jewellery is hallmarked.
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This is due to the non-availability of sufficient assaying and hallmarking centres (A&HC) responsible for a low level of hallmarked jewellery. Hence, Gold Hallmarking has been made mandatory.
Phase wise implementation:
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In the first phase, gold hallmarking will be available only in 256 districts.
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Jewellers having an annual turnover above Rs 40 lakh will come under its purview.
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Moreover, there will be no penalty imposed till August 2021.
Note: India is the largest importer of gold. In volume terms, the country imports 700-800 tonne of gold annually.