New Delhi (Commodities Control) – Mandatory hallmarking of gold Jewellery is going to come into force from tomorrow, 16th June 21, said an official statement on Tuesday. However, it will be implemented initially in 256 districts of the country which have Assaying marking centres.
Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public , Railways and Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said in a tweet, “Continuing our Govt’s endeavour for better protection & satisfaction of customers, mandatory hallmarking in 256 districts will be implemented from 16 June 2021. No penalty will be imposed till August 2021. This will help develop India as a leading global gold market center.”
The Department of Consumer Affairs said in a statement that hallmarking will be initially be starting from 256 districts of the country which have Assaying marking centres. Jewellers with annual turnover upto Rs. 40 lac will be exempted from mandatory hallmarking, said the statement.
Export and re-import of jewelry as per Trade Policy of Government of India - Jewellery for international exhibitions, jewellery for government approved B2B domestic exhibitions will be exempted from mandatory hallmarking. Gold of Additional carats 20, 23 and 24 will also be allowed for hallmarking, said the statement by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
Watches, fountain pens and special types of jewelry viz. Kundan,Polki and Jadau will be exempted from hallmarking. Jewellers can continue to buy back old gold jewellery without hallmark from consumer.
Old jewellery can be got hallmarked as it is, if feasible by the jeweller or after melting and making new jewellery. A committee constituting of representatives of all stake holders, revenue officials and legal experts will be formed to look into the issues that may possibly emerge during the implementation of the scheme , said he statement.
It may be noted that hallmarking of Gold Jewellery and artefacts was earlier set to begin from 15thJune 2021.
Under Hallmarking scheme of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Jewellers are registered for selling hallmarked jewellery and recognise testing and hallmarking centres.
BIS (Hallmarking) Regulations, were implemented w.e.f. June 14, 2018. Hallmarking will enable Consumers/Jewellery buyers to make a right choice and save them from any unnecessary confusion while buying gold. At present, only 30 percent of Indian Gold Jewellery is hallmarked.
The Hallmarking of jewellery/artefacts is required to enhance the credibility of gold Jewellry and Customer satisfaction through third party assurance for the marked purity/fineness of gold , consumer protection. This step will also help to develop India as a leading gold market center in the World.
It is to be noted that there has been 25% increase in A&H centers in the last five years. The number of A&H centers have increased from 454 to 945 in the last five years. At present 940 Assaying and Hallmarking centers are operative. Out of this 84 AHCs have been setup under Govt. subsidy scheme in various Districts, said the statement.
Presently A&H Centre’s can hallmark 1500 articles in a day, the estimated hallmarking capacity of A&H Centre’s per year are 14 crore articles (Assuming 500 articles per shift &300 working days.
According to World Gold Council,India has around 4 lakh jewellers, out of this only 35879 have been BIS certified.
(By Commoditiescontrol Bureau: +91-22-40015505)
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