By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, OCT 29, 2024: AS the festival of Dhanteras approaches, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) urges consumers to adopt a more thoughtful approach to gold and silver buying that is backed by the enduring trust of Hallmark.

Traditionally, Dhanteras marks the time when families invest in gold, a symbol of good fortune, wealth, and future security. BIS has been instrumental in driving this transformation, encouraging consumers to make informed purchases by promoting the importance of hallmarked gold and silver jewellery.

Hallmarking in gold jewellery comprises of 3 markings; namely the BIS Standard Mark, Purity of Gold in carats & fineness; and 6-digit Alphanumeric HUID code. HUID - Hallmarking unique ID is a unique 6-digit alphanumeric code which is marked on each gold jewellery article.

Pramod Kumar Tiwari, Director General, BIS said "We are committed to safeguarding consumers' gold investments during Dhanteras and beyond with BIS HUID based Hallmark. With BIS Hallmark and the easy-to-use BIS CARE App, consumers can be assured of the authenticity of their jewellery purchases."

Consumers are also empowered now to verify the authenticity of HUID on Hallmarked gold jewellery by using the 'Verify HUID' icon on the BIS Care App. The hallmarking charges for gold jewellery are Rs 45/- per article, excluding taxes. Consumers can get their Hallmarked jewellery tested at any of the BIS recognized Assaying and Hallmarking Centres (AHCs) after paying testing charges of Rs. 200/-.

Hallmarking is the accurate determination and official recording of the proportionate content of precious metal in the precious metal article. Hallmarking provides consumers third party assurance and satisfaction that they get right purity of gold (or silver). Under Hallmarking Scheme of BIS, registration is granted to jewellers for selling hallmarked jewellery and recognition is given to Assaying and Hallmarking Centres for hallmarking jewellery based on purity observed during testing.

BIS has been successful in implementing the Mandatory Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery and Gold Artefacts in 256 districts of the country with effect from 23 June 2021, in the first phase, further including 32 more districts in second phase and 55 districts in the third phase. Since the implementation of mandatory hallmarking, the number of registered jewellers have increased from 43,153 to 1, 93,567 while AHCs have increased from 948 to 1,611. Also, more than 40 crore articles of gold jewellery have been hallmarked with HUID.