BIS and GJEPC address jewellers' concerns on hallmarking

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jun 30, 2021

On June 28, the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council held a webinar with the Bureau of Indian Standards to address jewellers’ questions concerning the new mandatory hallmarking rules for gold jewellery. 

The meeting, held with BIS director general Pramod Kumar Tiwari, clarified that additional gold purity grades of 20, 23, and 24 carat are also allowed for hallmarking now. Tiwari shared that the BIS has made registration for hallmarking free, which saw registrations increase from 36,000 to 40,000 in a matter of days. 
 
“16th June, 2021, was a historic day in the history of the jewellery industry in India,” said GJEPC chairman Colin Shah at the webinar, the GJEPC reported on its website.

“In all our meetings with Shri Piyush Goyal, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, the goal was very clear: to protect the interest of the consumer. On behalf of GJEPC, I thank BIS for today’s session, and Mr Pramod Tiwari for his honest and frank response to our questions. We are with you for the whole journey. GJEPC appreciates the acceptance of industry’s suggestion by BIS to form an Advisory Committee to streamline issues raised by the industry for a smooth transition.”
 
Tiwari told jewellers that the BIS is considering a 75% subsidy for hallmarking centres to enable them to continue operations despite low volumes at present. He also clarified that all jewellery hallmarked before the introduction of mandatory hallmarking will not need to be hallmarked again. 
 
“With the implementation of mandatory hallmarking, as an industry we are certainly aspiring to take this industry to the next level,” said the GJEPC’s gold jewellery panel convenor K. Srinivasan. “It’s a significant step towards transparency. This would instil trust in the domestic consumers and will boost confidence among the international buyers.”
 
The BIS will allow people to sell their household jewellery to any retailer without it having been hallmarked. Remaining concerns which were not able to be addressed in the meeting will be taken up at the next advisory committee meeting.