GOVERNMENT PLANS TO INCLUDE GOLD BULLION IN THE HALLMARKING SYSTEM TO ENSURE THE DESIRED PURITY OF GOLD USED IN JEWELLERY MANUFACTURING AND SAFEGUARD CONSUMERS

9th March 2023

To ensure the desired purity of gold bullion used in manufacturing jewellery and safeguard consumers, the government has decided that after March 31, 2023, gold jewellery or artefacts will not be allowed to be sold or offered for sale without the 6-digit HUID number.

The Government of India has announced plans to extend mandatory hallmarking to gold bullion. According to Mr. Pramod Kumar Tiwari, Director-General of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), “There is a need for mandatory hallmarking of gold bullion. An advisory group has been formed last month” to consult on the process, which includes gold importers, Assaying and Hallmarking Centre (AHC) Association, and Jewellery associations. This move comes after the implementation of the hallmarking system for gold jewellery and artefacts, which has led to an increase in the number of articles hallmarked. As Mr. Tiwari noted, “More than 180 million gold articles have been hallmarked since the implementation of mandatory hallmarking, with more than 300,000 gold articles hallmarked with the HUID every day.”To ensure the desired purity of gold bullion used in manufacturing jewellery and safeguard consumers, the government has decided that after March 31, 2023, gold jewellery or artefacts will not be allowed to be sold or offered for sale without the 6-digit HUID number. Clarifying for the hallmarked jewellery lying with consumers as per old schemes, BIS D-C said those shall remain valid. Consumers can sell or exchange their old jewellery as per there convenience. He also acknowledged that some jewellers had concerns about not being able to sell their old stock during the Covid period, stating that “We gave them almost 2 years to clear their four-digit hallmarked stocks, but it was being misused by some of them. It’s time to stop the selling of old hallmarked jewellery.”Despite these changes, Mr. Tiwari reassured the industry that the majority of jewellers will not be affected. As he pointed out, “In 2020-21, only 34,647 jewellers were registered in the country. At present it is 153,941 for 2022-23.”