Hallmarking Of Gold has been a practice that's been in our Country for quite some time. There has been a lot of news about it going around since last week. This article tries to shed light on the actual need, Pros,Cons of the hallmarking system and the new notification.

Firstly let us understand as to who will get the benefits of hallmarking the gold? Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is entrusted with the hallmarking in India.Purpose of the hallmark is to determine the accurate proportion of content in precious metal and articles. Hallmark acts as guarantee of purity  and fineness for the precious metal.Also, this will  protect consumers against victimization due to irregular gold or silver quality, and to develop India as a leading gold market centre in the World and to develop export competitiveness. This will enable sellers  to cut down on adulteration and save the customer's hard earned money invested in gold and silver. Hallmarking of gold jewellery certifies the purity of the jewellery and has been brought in for protection of consumers’ interest.

The Consumer Affairs Ministry had decided to implement norms for mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts in a phased manner from Wednesday (June 16) for 14 carats, 18 carats and 22 carats.BIS (Hallmarking) Regulations were introduced effective June 14, 2018, but now it has been made mandatory.

In the first phase, the norms have been enforced in 256 districts, where there is at least one assaying marking centre. At the same time, the government has decided not to charge a fee from jewellers for registration with BIS, and has also given exemption from the mandatory norms to small jewellers with an annual turnover of ₹40 lakh.

Consumers’ interest has also now been taken care of and the central government has issued an order on Hallmarking of precious metals. With the rising number of Consumer Protection Cases and the Customers taken on ride about the purity and quality of gold- it was felt that the Consumer Protection Act needs to incorporate a way by allowing  customers to check the purity  of the gold articles. Accordingly,

• Consumers can get their  jewellery/sample tested from any of the BIS Recognized Assaying & Hallmarking Centre. The Assaying and Hallmarking Centres undertake the testing of Jewellery/Samples of common consumers on priority on chargeable basis. The Assaying and Hallmarking centre is required to issue Assay Report giving proper identifications as marked on article. 
• Redress Mechanism in case of complaint-In case Hallmarked Jewellery brought by the consumer is found to be of lesser purity than that marked on jewellery, the testing charges would be refunded to the consumer by the centre who had Hallmarked the jewellery. The jeweller shall be obliged to satisfy the consumer through replacement as envisaged in the existing scheme.
  

Exemptions from the norms have been given to jewellery for exports, re-imports, government-approved B2B domestic exhibition and international exhibitions.

At present hallmarking is being rolled out in phased manner and in the initial phase 256 districts have been chosen by the ministry. Here, “any manufacturer, importer, wholesalers, distributor or retailer engaged in selling precious metal articles will need to get mandatorily registered with the BIS. However, artisans and manufacturers who are manufacturing gold jewellery on job work basis for jewellers and are not directly related to sale to anyone are exempted from registration,” In a relief to jewellers who are saddled with old stocks of non-hallmarked jewellery, the Ministry has also decided not to impose any penalty till August-end in districts where these norms are being enforced.

Speaking to media persons at a virtual conference, Pramod Kumar Tiwari, Director General, Bureau of Indian Standards, said: “One of the key reasons for enforcing the norms in a phased manner was to ensure that jewellers located in villages and other areas where there are lack of hallmarking centres shouldn’t be forced to travel long distances to get their jewellery hallmarked.

“Watches, fountain pens and special types of jewellery such as Kundan, Polki and Jadau will also be exempted from hallmarking. Jewellers will also be able to continue to buy back old gold jewellery without a hallmark from consumers,” In case of issues regarding the implementation of this process,a committee will be set up to look into the matters. The committee will consist of representative stakeholders,legal experts and revenue officials,the Ministry added.