Government announces it is set to introduce mandatory gold hallmarking on June 1

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Apr 14, 2021

The government announced on April 13 that it is all set to implement mandatory hallmarking on gold jewellery and artefacts from June 1 following a number of previous delays. 

 
From June 1, all gold jewellery produced and sold in India must carry a hallmark given by a Bureau of Indian Standards approved facility. The date to make hallmarking mandatory had previously been set in November 2019 for January 15, 2021 in order to give businesses over a year to register, shift old stock, and begin hallmarking. 
 
However, the significant disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic meant that businesses could not begin the process and thus an extension was given. To date, 34,647 jewellers have registered with the BIS. Another one lakh jewellers are expected to register in the coming one to two months, according to BIS director general Pramod Kumar Tiwari, the Press Trust of India reported. 

“No extension has been sought,” said Consumer Affairs secretary Leena Nandan at a virtual press conference on Tuesday, the Press Trust of India reported. “BIS is already fully energised and involved in giving approvals to jewellers for hallmarking.”
 
The move to make gold hallmarking mandatory is designed to contribute towards the wider organisation of India’s fine jewellery market.

This will benefit large jewellery brands which already hallmark their products as a practice and will necessitate smaller, rural jewellers to begin the practice, many for the first time. The move is also intended to increase consumer trust which could boost sales.