From June 1, the Center will move forward on a plan to mandate hallmarking of gold jewelery. The plan was delayed due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
Last year, the then Union Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan declared January 2021 as the deadline, but the jewelers were given an extension.
Consumer Affairs Secretary Lina Nandan said in a virtual press conference that no further expansion has been done. Gold hallmarking is a purity certification and is currently voluntary.
About 40% of gold jewelery is sold with hallmarks.
According to the new rules, if the jewelery or a gold made of 14-, 18- or 22-carat gold is sold without a bis hallmark, the jeweler may be fined five times the cost of the item or imprisoned for up to one year. Might be possible.
Pramod Kumar Tiwari, director general of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), said that so far 34,647 jewelers had registered with BIS and the number was expected to go up to one lakh in the next two months. He said that compulsory hallmarking would protect the public against low carats and ensure that consumers are not cheated while purchasing gold ornaments and that purity inscribed on the jewelery is attained.
Mr. Tiwari also said that the BIS had hosted reforms to reduce the compliance burden. The entire process of BIS certification was automated. Offering incentives to start-ups and women entrepreneurs, BIS reduced the minimum marking fee by 50%.
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