Gold and silver hallmarking faces government price hike

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Sep 23, 2022

The central government has implemented a price hike for hallmarking both gold and silver jewellery. Both categories have had hallmarking costs increased by Rs 10 per article with gold hallmarking now costing Rs 45 per piece and silver hallmarking costing Rs 35 per piece. 

The minimum consignment fee for hallmarking has not been altered by the government, ET Bureau reported. Whether this price increase in hallmarking affects jewellery businesses significantly will depend on the size of the business. As hallmarking costs are the same irrespective of weight, the hike will make a bigger difference for smaller, lightweight jewellery items, which retail for less than heavy items.  
 
“The Bureau of Indian Standards, under the Department of Consumer Affairs, has after the introduction of hallmarking regulations in 2018, for the first time revised the hallmarking charges for gold and silver articles,” said Economic Law Practice partner Nishant Shah, ET Online reported. “Such revision in hallmarking charges comes after almost four years of introduction.”  

Hallmarking gold jewellery of any purity has been mandatory in India from June 1 this year following numerous delays with implementation caused by the pandemic. However, silver hallmarking is currently voluntary and shoppers can ask jewellers to hallmark their silver jewellery upon request, although larger brands tend to hallmark their silver prior to retailing.