The Buyt Desk
It is a mandatory purity test for all the registered jewellers to get on the jewellery that they sell. Customers must cross-check the hallmarking whenever they purchase jewellery or precious metal artefacts. Hallmark certificate ensures transparency with regard to the quality of jewellery. The Bureau of India Standard BIS operates the Gold and Silver metal hallmarking in India. Hallmarking is the parameter that determines the accuracy of gold and silver metal. It defines the percentage of precious metal present in the article made from it (Jewellers add some other metals in Gold to make articles made from it durable and long-lasting. The metals like copper add required strength in Gold jewellery, otherwise gold is a delicate material.)
Hallmarking indicates purity in carat as 22K916 stands for 22 carats, 18K750 for 18 carats, 14K750 for 14 carats, and BIS issues hallmarking certificates to all jewellers registered with them. In India, Hallmarking is available for two metals, Gold and Silver.
What Good Hallmarking Does To Gold Jewellery?
For a long time, hallmarking on gold jewellery was voluntary, and most jewellers were not practising it. In 2019, the Government of India announced to make hallmarking on Gold jewellery mandatory. At present, hallmarking is done on 14, 18 and 22 carats jewellery, but the Government is planning to make it mandatory for other purity as well, in a phased manner.
How Is Hallmarking On Gold Jewellery Benefiting Consumers?
The Government’s objective behind making hallmarking mandatory for a jeweller is to avert irregularities in the market. The jewellers used to sell gold articles to customers with wrong carat information. The hallmarking system has created transparency in the system. Hallmarking certifies that the article has the mentioned percentage of Gold in it.
Currently, the Government has given relaxation to a segment of jewellers from mandatory hallmarking. It is not compulsory for small jewellers with a turnover of less than 40 Lakhs per annum. Besides that, the Government has also exempted those jewellers who export and re-export following the trade policy set by the Government. The jewellers who make articles for international exhibitions are also exempted for the time being. A few states have also got an exemption from hallmarking mandatory rules because of the difficult location and unavailability of hallmarking assaying centres. The states are all northeastern states, union territories like Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir and Andaman and Nicobar.
The hallmarking of gold jewellery is a revolutionary move of the Government to streamline the ecosystem of the industry. Although, the Government is not taking stringent action against jewellers not complying with BIS standards for hallmarking certification. However, it has ensured the citizens of India that any jeweller found cheating customers will be punished by adding a provision of punishment in this fraud.
