The government announced that, beginning June 1, 2021, its mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts will be implemented. Gold hallmarking is a voluntary process that certifies the purity of the precious metal. The Centre announced in November 2019 that from January 15, 2021, hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts will be required across the country. Jewellers had been given more than a year to transition to hallmarking and register with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
However, after jewellers requested more time to implement in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline was extended for four months, until June 1.
‘No extension has been sought. BIS is already fully energised and involved in giving approvals to jewellers for hallmarking,’ Consumer Affairs Secretary Leena Nandan said in a virtual press conference here.
Elaborating more, BIG Director-General Pramod Kumar Tiwari said, ‘From June, we are fully prepared to implement (mandatory hallmarking). And at present, we have received no proposal to extend the date.’
So far, 34,647 jewellers have registered with the BIS.
‘We expect about 1 lakh jewellers to register in the next one to two months,’ he said, adding that the registration process has been made online and automatic. Jewellers will be able to sell only 14 carat, 18 carat, and 22 carat gold jewellery starting June 1. Since April 2000, the BIS has operated a hallmarking scheme for gold jewellery, with around 40% of gold jewellery being hallmarked.
The mandatory hallmarking, according to the BIS, will protect the public from lower caratage and ensure that consumers are not duped when purchasing gold ornaments and receive the purity stated on the ornaments. India is the world’s largest importer of gold, primarily to meet the needs of the jewelry market. In terms of volume, the country imports 700-800 tonne of gold every year.
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