As jewellers hold strike, key things to know about gold hallmarking rules
Gold hallmarking was earlier voluntary in nature, but the government made it mandatory with an aim to ensure gold consumers are not cheated by sellers.
Jewellers across the country organised a strike against the new gold hallmarking rules recently implemented by the Centre. The All India Gem Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) claimed that most jewellery shops remained shut in response to the strike call.
It also said that 350-odd jewellery associations were part of the strike.
The jewellery bodies are against the government's Hallmarking Unique ID (HUID) system which they said has nothing to do with the purity of gold but is just a tracking mechanism.
The associations held the strike despite request from the government to reconsider their decision. The Centre asserted that the mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery in 50 days of its first phase of implementation has been a "grand success".
Here is all you need to know about the new hallmarking rules:
What is gold hallmarking?
Gold hallmarking is a purity certification of the metal. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) defines it as "the accurate determination and official recording of the proportionate content of precious metal in precious metal articles".
Gold hallmarking was earlier voluntary in nature, but the government made it mandatory with an aim to ensure gold consumers are not cheated by sellers. The deadline was extended twice as jewellers sought time due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
When were the new rules implemented?
Mandatory gold hallmarking, a purity certification of the precious metal, came into force from June 16 in a phased manner. The government identified 256 districts from 28 states and union territories for the phase-1 implementation.
What will happen if jewellers don't follow the rules?
As per the new rules, if jewellery or an artifact made of 14, 18, or 22-carat gold is sold without the BIS hallmark, the jeweller could be penalised five times the cost of the object or imprisoned for up to one year.
The Centre had announced in June that no penalty will be imposed till August on those jewellers who do not comply with the mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts.
According to the government, in order to ensure that the hallmarking on jewellery is genuine, it is important to have purity in carat and fineness, BIS mark, identification mark or the number of hallmarking centre, and the number of the jeweller.
