Secondary phase of Mandate gold hallmarking to begin from June 1; Know details

Insight Bureau: The second phase of the mandatory hallmarking of gold will come into force from June 1, 2022, the consumer Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

Gold hallmarking is a purity certification of the noble metal which was voluntary in nature up until June 16, 2021, when the government decided to execute mandatory gold hallmarking in phased manner. In the first phase itself, 256 districts of the country were covered.

As per the ministery’s statement, the second phase will cover 32 new districts of the country, with additional three caratages of gold jewellery or artefacts (ie: 20, 23 and 24 carats). An Assaying and Hallmarking Centre (AHC) has also been set up after the implementation of the first phase.

The AHC will undertake the inspection of gold jewellery from consumers and provide them with the test report. The test report issued to the consumer will assure them of the purity of their jewellery and will also be useful if the they wish to sell the jewellery.

The price for inspecting gold jewellery up to 4 articles is Rs 200. For 5 or more articles, the charge is Rs 45 per article.

The authenticity and purity of the hallmarked gold jewellery items are labelled with a Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) number. When purchased by consumers, they can be verified by using ‘verify HUID’ in the “BIS CARE” app, available for download in the play store.

Now, a relevant question that arises is – what is hallmark?

Hallmark is an official stamp on or purity certification of precious metals like gold, silver, etc. It was voluntary till June 2021 after which the government sanctioned the implementation of mandatory gold hallmarking in phased manner.

Mandatory hallmarking means that jewellers will now be able to sell only hallmark certified 14, 18 carat, or even higher carataged gold jewellery. Bullion gold such as bars and coins are excluded from mandatory hallmarking including jewellery weighing less than two grams.

It has been made so to ensure that consumers are not cheated and get the purity as marked on the ornaments. The BIS Act 2016 makes it compulsory for all the jewellers to register with BIS & sell only hallmarked products.

The components of a hallmark constitue the:
• Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Mark
• Purity in Carats and Fineness
• Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) Number
• Jeweller’s Identification Number.