Deadline For Mandatory Hallmarking Of Gold Extended To June 15

The government on Monday extended its deadline for mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery to June 15 from its previous deadline of June 1. "Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery is set to begin from 15th June 2021. In view of Covid, Government accepted the request of stakeholders to give jewellers some more time to get prepared for implementation and resolve issues. Earlier it was expected to be implemented from 1 June 2021," Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said in a press release.

Gold hallmarking is a purity certification of the precious metal and is voluntary in nature at present.

According to World Gold Council, India has around 4 lakh jewellers, out of which only 35,879 have been certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

In November 2019, the government had announced that hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts would be made mandatory across the country from January 15, 2021. However, the deadline was extended for four months till June 1 after jewellers sought more time in view of the pandemic.

A committee, headed by BIS Director General Pramod Tewari, has been formed to ensure proper coordination and resolve the implementation issues. The committee would also comprise Nidhi Khare, additional secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs and representatives of jewellers associations, trade and hallmarking bodies, among others.

The BIS has been running a hallmarking scheme for gold jewellery since April 2000. Around 40 per cent of gold jewellery is being hallmarked currently.

The Hallmarking of jewellery is required to enhance the credibility of gold jewellry and customer satisfaction through third party assurance for the marked purity of gold , consumer protection. This step will also help to develop India as a leading gold market center in the World.