When we buy a diamond, we get a certificate for it. The same thing is possible for gold now.
Bureau of India Standards (BIS) has prohibited the sale of hallmarked gold jewelry or gold artefacts without 6 digit alphanumeric Hallmark Unique Identification Number (HUID) after 31st March 2023.
Till date, the old hallmarked jewellery with four marks without HUID was also permitted to be sold by the jewelers along with the 6-digit HUID mark. More than a year and 9 months were given to jewellers to clear their stock of their 4-digit hallmarked articles.
Several rounds of consultations were held with all stakeholders including jewellers on the issue by BIS through meetings held in Eastern, Southern, and Western regions.
The department of Consumer Affairs also held a meeting on 18th January 2023. It has been decided that after 31st March 2023, all gold jewellery artefacts (any object made of gold that is not jewellery) must be hallmarked with a 6-digit Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) number which is in accordance with the Indian Standards specified in IS 1417 : 2016 as amended .
Hallmarked jewellery lying with consumers as per old schemes shall remain valid. As per section 49 of BIS Rules, 2018 in case Hallmarked Jewellery bought by the consumer is found to be of lesser purity than that marked on jewellery, then the buyer/customer shall be entitled for compensation which shall be two times the amount of difference calculated on the basis of shortage of purity for the weight of such article sold and the testing charges.
What is hallmarking?
Hallmarking simply means putting a mark on the item. This mark tells us the purity of gold in the item that we are buying. Gold items are available from 14 carat to 24 carats. 14 carats means that in addition to gold, other metals have been added to the alloy. This brings down the price of the piece. Since gold is very malleable, diamond jewellery cannot be made in 22 carat gold. It can only be made in 18 carat gold.
24 carat gold is the purest form of gold with no impurities or alloys. Most gold jewellery in India is in the 22-carat range. 24 carat gold is too soft to be crafted as jewellery and is usually bought only as bullion or coins, biscuits, bricks, etc.
You will see one of the following on the piece of gold:
•22K916
•18K750
•14K585
In this, 22K916 means that it is a 22-carat gold and the piece of jewellery has 91.6 percent gold.
18K750 means that it is an 18-carat gold and the piece of jewellery has 75 percent gold.
14K585 means that it is a 14-carat gold and the piece of jewellery has 58.5 percent gold.
24K995 and 24K999 means that the coin/bullion is pure 24 carat gold and it has 99.5% or 99.9% gold.
– Information from Department of Consumer Affairs
History of hallmarking in India
Hallmarking scheme for hallmarking of jewellery was started by BIS in 2000. However, mandatory hallmarking has been successfully implemented in 288 districts of the country with effect from 23 June 2021 vide Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery and Gold Artefacts Order, 2022, and its amendment dated 04 March 2022.
At present more than 3 lakh gold articles are being hallmarked with HUID every day. 339 districts of India have an Assaying and Hallmarking Center (AHC). The total number of districts in India as on date is 720.
Before implementation of the 6-digit Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) number, hallmarking of gold jewelry was consisted of 4 logos viz, BIS logo, purity of the article as well as logo of jeweller and Assaying and Hallmarking Centre.
6 digit HUID was introduced from 01 July 2021 and all articles hallmarked post 01 July 2021 have to be hallmarked with HUID only. After introduction of HUID, hallmark consisted of 3 marks viz, BIS logo, purity of the article and six-digit alphanumeric HUID. Each hallmarked article has a unique HUID number which is traceable.
A consumer can check and authenticate hallmarked gold jewellery items with HUID number using ‘verify HUID’ in BIS CARE app which is available in both android and iOS. It provides information of the jeweler that got the article hallmarked, their registration number, purity of the article, type of article, and details of the hallmarking centre which tested and hallmarked the article. Using this information, every consumer can verify the article being purchased by matching it with article type as well as it’s purity.