Union Government launches online registration for jewellers and hallmarking centres

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Aug 26, 2020

The Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Ram Vilas Paswan, has launched an online system for the registration of jewellers for gold hallmarking, with the aim of increasing ease of doing business in the sector. 

 
Paswan virtually launched the new online system on Friday, officially titled the 'Registration and Renewal of Jewellers and Online System of Recognition and Renewal of the Assaying and Hallmarking Centres', the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council reported on its website. The new online system can be accessed through the Bureau of Indian Standards’ web portal.
 
In 2019, the government announced that it will make gold hallmarking mandatory from 2020 with a year’s grace period for implementation. The online system was launched after the government received a large number of proposals to register A&H centres and felt that moving the process from manual to online would streamline operations.

According to Paswan, the A&H centre registration process is now fully automated so jewellers may submit the required documents and fees for obtaining a hallmarking licence and will be automatically granted registration. They will then receive an SMS or mail with their respective registration number.
 
Following the implementation of mandatory hallmarking, the government expects the amount of jewellery and artefacts sent for hallmarking to double from around five to 10 crore, according to the GJEPC. This necessitates a large increase in the number of operational hallmarking centres and the government aims to open a suitable number of centres across all states by June 2021, when hallmarking will be mandatory.