Hallmarked Jewellery With 6-Digit HUID Made Mandatory From 1st April

Bureau of India Standards (BIS) has prohibited the sale of hallmarked gold jewellery or gold artefacts without the 6-digit alphanumeric Hallmark Unique Identification Number (HUID) after 31st March 2023, according to a statement from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.

Until now, the old hallmarked jewellery with four marks without HUID was also permitted to be sold by the jewellers along with the 6 digit HUID mark. The ministry said that the jewellers were given more than a year and 9 months to clear their stock of 4-digit hallmarked articles. However, the simultaneous sale of two types of hallmarked jewellery was creating confusion in the mind of the consumer.

Several rounds of consultations were held with all stakeholders including jewellers on the issue by BIS through meetings held in Eastern, Southern as well as Western regions. The department of Consumer Affairs also held a meeting on 18th January 2023 with all stakeholders on the issue.

After having due consultations with all stakeholders and based on the views received it has been decided that after 31st March, 2023, gold jewellery or gold artefacts cannot be sold unless hallmarked with a 6 digit Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) number, which is in accordance with the Indian Standards specified in IS 1417: 2016 as amended.

The step has been taken to safeguard and protect the consumers and enhance their confidence in the purchase of hallmarked gold jewellery with traceability and assurance of quality.

Hallmarked jewellery lying with consumers as per old schemes shall remain valid. As per section 49 of BIS Rules, 2018 in case Hallmarked Jewellery bought by the consumer is found to be of lesser purity than that marked on jewellery, then the buyer/customer shall be entitled for compensation which shall be two times the amount of difference calculated on the basis of shortage of purity for the weight of such article sold and the testing charges.

The Hallmarking Scheme for Jewellery was started by BIS in the year 2000. However, Mandatory Hallmarking has been successfully implemented in 288 districts of the country with effect from 23rd June 2021 vide Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery and Gold Artefacts Order, 2022, and its amendment dated 4th March, 2022.

At present more than 3 lakh gold articles are being hallmarked with HUID every day. At present, 339 districts have at least one AHC.

Before implementation of the 6 digit HUID, hallmarking of gold jewellery consisted of 4 logos viz, BIS logo, purity of the article as well as logo of jeweller and Assaying and Hallmarking Centre. After introduction of HUID, the hallmark consisted of 3 marks viz, BIS logo, purity of the article, and six-digit alphanumeric HUID. Each hallmarked article has unique HUID number which is traceable.

A consumer can check and authenticate hallmarked gold jewellery items with an HUID number using the ‘verify HUID’ service in the BIS CARE app available for both Android and iOS. It provides information of the jeweller, their registration number, purity of the article, type of article, and details of the hallmarking centre which tested and hallmarked the article. Using this information, a common consumer can verify the article being purchased by matching it with article type as well as its purity.

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