Surat: Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) dated Sale of old hallmarked gold jewellery, artefacts or gold has been banned from 1st April 2023. The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs has planned to implement the 6-digit alphanumeric Hallmark Unique Identification Number (HUID) from 1 April 2023.
- Dt. From April 1, 6-digit hallmark unique HUID number will be mandatory on jewellery
- With the new HUID, it will be known which jewelers made the jewelry, who sold it for what price, how many carats the jewelry was.
- 1000 cost of 10 grams of gold is charged to the customer by the traders.
- If 22 carat gold turns out to be 18 carat, the jewelers will have to pay double the amount of four carats to the customer.
On the other hand, jewelers are sitting on gold with old hallmarking, hoping for an extension after the industry associations’ submissions. They were instructed to either sell the old hallmarked gold or dispose of the old 4-code hallmarked gold. But in the absence of this, BIS has warned to conduct search from 1st April. Sources said that big jewelers have planned to charge Rs 1000 for 10 grams of gold on the back of the Hallmark Unique Identification Number.
With this implementation, jewelers will increase the making charges, which have not increased in the last decade. However, in this case, the government gave sufficient time of one year and 9 months to the jewelers to prepare. Now the government cannot increase the term considering the huge interest of the customers. So jewelers will have to either sell the old hole marking gold before 31st March 2023 or refine and sell jewelery as per the new standard.
Jewelers have been given a last chance of March 31 to clear their stocks of articles bearing the old 4-digit hallmark. According to the government, due to the new hallmarking, the consumer will get gold of 14, 16, 18, 22 and 24 carat quality and purity as per BIS standard. This will create confidence that the customer is buying pure gold.
According to the new rule of BIS as per section 49 of 2018, if the hallmarked jewelery purchased by the customer is of less purity than the marking i.e., if there is a marking of 22 carats and the gold comes out to be 18 carats, the jewelers will have to refund double the amount of four carats to the customer and the offense of cheating will also be filed. .
With the new HUID, it will be possible to know which jewelers made the jewellery, to whom it was sold for what price, how many carats the jewelery was, which means it will make traceability easier for the agency. Investment of black money in gold will also stop. The government has made HUID hallmarking mandatory in 339 districts of the country. Where daily 3 lakh jewelery is being hallmarked as per the new rules.
Govt to enforce HUID law and also provide facilities: Nainesh Pacchigar
Indian Bullion Jewellers’ Association’s Gujarat unit chairman Nainesh Pachchigar said that jewelers who have a huge stock of old jewelery may face more problems. They will have to dispose of old 4 digit hallmarking jewellery. A proposal has been made at the highest level in the government to extend the term by 6 months. 31st March is the last day. The industry hopes that the government will publish a notification then.
As for Surat, there are only 15 hallmarking centers against 2500 jewellers. How will it be met? It will be difficult to sell jewelery with HUID number during festivals. The government has made it clear that as per the old scheme, jewelery with hallmarks lying with customers will be allowed. BIS or any other agency cannot object to the customer or jewelers buying jewelery with the old 3 digit hallmark before 31st March. However, as per the rules, this purchase has to be shown in the income tax return.