Jewellery hallmarking: Implementation must in 256 districts from December 1 - How buyers can identify purity

Government is all set to make jewellery hallmarking compulsory from tomorrow in 256 districts for the Jewellery sellers. How is the preparation on ground? How will you recognize hallmarked jewellery? Zee Business' Commodity Editor Mrituenjay Jha spoke to top expert Prithviraj Kothari, President of IBJA. Here is what Kothari suggested in the Commodity Superfast episode.

Responding to a question by Mrituenjay Jha on extension of deadline of mandatory jewellery hallmarking, Kothari said, "I don't think Government is going to extend the deadline further for the jewellery sellers to implement hallmarking guidelines. As Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) number and hallmarks have become a common practice amongst not only the jewellers but also the consumers," Prithviraj Kothari said. "Sellers are now focused on preparing their shops for selling and are getting used to implementing the hallmarking guidelines," Prithviraj Kothari added.

Kothari further said, "This will help buyers to know the purity of the jewellery for which they are paying for".

The Government made hallmarking guidelines mandatory on June 16, 2021. Ahead of the official announcement, so far, 1.24 lakh jewellers have registered themselves. 

Prithviraj Kothari confirmed that the jewellers would hardly charge extra for hallmarked jewellery. Moreover, only making charges will be deducted when the customer will sell their jewellery.  

The charges for Gold Hallmarked Jewellery will be Rs 35 per piece. Whereas the charges for Silver Hallmarked Jewellery will be Rs 25 apiece.  

Some of the factor customers need to keep in mind before buying jewellery are:

-BIS Hallmarked jewellery
-Use 10x magnifying glass
-Charges should be fixed everywhere
-Look for the registered number
-Look for the logo of the jewellery seller in the mark
-Look for the canter’s mark where the jewellery was marked
-Look for purity's mark
-Make sure you take a valid bill with your purchase

"Hallmarking ensures that in case the customer purchased jewellery in Mumbai but wanted to sell it in a small town. The customer will get the 100% value across the country after deducting the making charges," Prithviraj Kothari said.

"The Government took data on the jewellery which was not hallmarked from the sellers. So, if in case of jewellers still have some jewellery unmarked, they will have to melt it or get it marked. Although consumers who own old jewellery which is unmarked are free to sell their jewellery anywhere," he added.

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Apart from all these, Kothari also mentioned that this hallmark mandatory rule is not going to apply to the customers as they can sell their jewellery to the jeweller without a hallmark.