North East India lacks gold hallmarking centres ahead of new regulations

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Dec 9, 2019

The six states of North East India and five Union territories do not have any gold hallmarking centres ahead of the mandatory gold hallmarking regulations which will come into effect on January 15, 2021.

Despite the fact that gold hallmarking for jewellery will be mandatory in just over a year’s time, no centres exist in the North East of the country, according to official data accessed by the Press Trust of India. The data showed that no centres exist in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Ladakh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep. This would make gold hallmarking in these areas very challenging for jewellery retailers if centres are not set up in time.

The Bureau of Indian Standards has specified gold hallmarking with three purity standards, 14 carats, 18 carats, and 22 carats. Hallmarking is currently voluntary for jewellery businesses and, while most stores in the organised section of the market hallmark their gold jewellery, much of the unorganised section of the market does not. 

Making hallmarking mandatory is intended to increase consumer trust in the jewellery industry and contribute to organising the market. "We are targeting to open hallmarking centres in all districts of the country and register all jewellers during this one year window," said the Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, the Press Trust of India reported.