From April 1, Indian jewellers required to sell hallmarked gold

From April 1, jewellers in India have to sell gold marked with a six-digit alphanumeric Hallmark Unique Identification Number (HUID), the federal government has announced.

The decision was taken on Friday after commerce minister Piyush Goyal held a meeting to review the work of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)—an Indian government agency that looks after the quality certification of goods.

In India, gold is certified as pure by the hallmark certificate. Till June 16, 2021, the gold hallmarking was voluntary. It was made mandatory in 256 districts in the first stage, and 32 additional districts were added in the second, bringing the total to 288 districts.

In order to help small and micro businesses comply with the order and promote quality culture, the government has decided to provide 80 per cent concession in marking fee across different products and an additional 10 per cent concession to all units in the North East.

"Starting from 1st April 2023, the sale of only gold jewellery with HUID shall be permitted," an official statement said.

Additional secretary in the department of consumer affairs, Nidhi Khare, said that "in consumers interest, it has been decided that after March 31st, sale of gold jewellery and gold artefacts hallmarked without HUID will not be permitted”, reports PTI news agency.

At present, four digits and six-digit HUID are being used currently.

HUID number is a six-digit alphanumeric code consisting of numbers and letters. It will be accorded to every piece of jewellery at the time of hallmarking and it is unique for every item.

The jewellery is stamped with the unique number manually at the Assaying & Hallmarking Centre (AHC)