Mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery: Industry seeks readability on norms to be enforced from Wednesday
Only 245 districts have assaying and hallmarking devices
The roll-out of mandatory gold jewellery hallmarking from Wednesday has divided the enterprise, with jewellers in small towns raising concerns over the shortage of adequate assaying centres.

The mandatory hallmarking of jewellery turned into to come into pressure from June 1, but turned into put off till June 15 because the industry raised apprehensions in assembly the norms amid Covid disruption.
The industry had in advance moved the Bombay High Court against obligatory hallmarking, however it did now not yield the favored result, except for the court docket directing the government not to do so against jewellers for non-compliance.

Demand for jewelry
Jewellery call for has already fallen sharply in previous few months, with State governments implementing strict monetary lockdown to control the unfold of Covid.

Under the hallmarking scheme of the Bureau of Indian Standards, jewellers are registered for selling hallmarked jewelry, testing and hallmarking centres. At present, most effective 30 in keeping with cent of Indian gold jewelry is hallmarked.

Of the four lakh jewellers within the usa, simplest 35,879 are licensed by way of the BIS, as in keeping with the World Gold Council records. Similarly, handiest 245 districts of the overall 733 districts inside the us of a, have assaying and hallmarking centres.

However, the government decided to roll out mandatory hallmarking, that’s being postponed considering January to begin with in 256 districts. Moreover, jewellers with an annual turnover of as much as ₹forty lakh, are exempted from the rule of thumb.

Ashish Pethe, Chairman, All India Gems and Jewellery Domestic Council, said the authorities has been thoughtful to many of the enterprise demands and ensured that no penalty could be levied till August.

However, he said there can be discrepancies in pricing, as non-hallmarked jewellery will be bought less expensive in some districts, however this advantage will fade away slowly.