Explained | What is hallmarking of gold jewellery?

With the Centre making hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts mandatory, you will be able to know about the purity certification of the precious metal every time you buy an ornament.

The order, which came into force on June 16, will be implemented in a phased manner across the country starting with 256 districts.

The government’s decision stems from the fact that only 30 per cent of gold items are hallmarked in the country at present. There are about 35,879 jewellers across the country, who are certified by the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) and only 945 assaying and hallmarking centres (A&HC) are present in India.

What is hallmarking of gold?

According to BIS, hallmarking is the “accurate determination and official recording of the proportionate content of precious metal in gold jewellery or artefacts.” Hence, hallmarking gold jewellery gives the “guarantee of purity or fineness” of it.

What are the gold items covered?

The government had issued a notification on June 14, 2018, to put all gold jewellery and gold artefacts for hallmarking, along with silver.

However, certain items are exempted from the process of hallmarking. According to the Department of Consumer Affairs, export and re-import of jewellery as per the Trade Policy of the Government of India would not need to be hallmarked mandatorily.

Watches, fountain pens and special types of jewellery such as Kundan, Polki and Jadau also don’t fall under the category of hallmark jewellery, as per the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

What is the set purity standard of gold in India?

According to the standards set by BIS, three categories of gold -- 22 carat, 18 carat, and 14 carat -- will be hallmarked. On June 15, the ministry announced, “Gold of Additional carats 20, 23 and 24 will also be allowed for hallmarking.” The gold jewellers can also continue to buy back the gold items without the hallmark from the customers.

Do all jewellers have to hallmark their gold items?

No, all jewellers across the country don’t have to hallmark their gold items. Only jewellers in the 256 districts announced by the government have to hallmark their gold. The jewellers with annual turnover up to Rs 40 lakh are exempted from it.

Is there any penalty?

According to Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the government will not impose any penalty till August 2021.

Here's a list of all 256 districts where the government has made it mandatory for hallmarking gold items:

Delhi: In all the seven districts of Delhi, the government has made it mandatory for hallmarking gold jewellery.

Uttar Pradesh: Hallmarking of gold jewellery will start in Uttar Pradesh in these 19 districts: 1. Agra 2. Allahabad 3. Bareilly 4. Budaun 5. Deoria 6. Ghaziabad 7. Gorakhpur 8. Jaunpur 9. Jhansi 10. Mathura 11. Kanpur Nagar 12. Lucknow 13. Meerut 14. Moradabad 15. Muzaffarnagar 16. Gautam Budh Nagar 17. Saharanpur 18. Shahjahanpur 19. Varanasi.

Madhya Pradesh: 1. Bhopal 2. Dewas 3. Gwalior 4. Rewa 5. Indore 6. Jabalpur 7. Ratlam 8. Satna.

Rajasthan: 1. Ajmer 2. Alwar 3. Bhilwara 4. Bikaner 5. Hanumangarh 6. Jaipur 7. Jhunjhunu 8. Jodhpur 9. Kota 10. Nagaur 11. Pali 12. Sawai Madhopur 13. Sirohi 14. Sikar 15. Sriganganagar 16. Churu 17. Udaipur 18. Banswara

Maharashtra: 1. Akola 2. Amravati 3. Dhule 4. Latur 5. Nanded 6. Ratnagiri 7. Sindhudurg 8. Aurangabad 9. Nagpur 10. Palghar 11. Raigad 12. Ahmednagar 13. Solapur 14. Jalgaon 15. Nashik 16. Satara 17. Sangli 18. Kolhapur 19. Thane 20. Pune 21. Mumbai Sub. 22. Mumbai City

Gujarat: 1. Amreli 2. Bhavnagar 3. Botad 4. Devbhoomi Dwarka 5. Gir Somnath 6. Jamnagar 7. Mehsana 8. Morbi 9. Patan 10. Porbandar 11. Valsad 12. Anand 13. Bharuch 14. Kheda 15. Surendranagar 16. Banaskantha 17. Junagadh 18. Kutch 19. Navsari 20. Vadodara 21. Rajkot 22. Surat 23. Ahmedabad.

Haryana: 1. Ambala 2. Bhiwani 3. Faridabad 4. Fatehabad 5. Gurgoan 6. Hissar 7. Jind 8. Kaithal 9. Karnal 10. Mahendragarh 11. Rewari 12. Rohatak 13. Sirsa 14. Sonipat 15. Yamuna Nagar

Uttarakhand: 1. Dehradun 2. Pithoragarh

Punjab: 1. Amritsar 2. Barnala 3. Bhatinda 4. Fatehgarh Sahib 5. Hoshiarpur 6. Jalandhar 7. Kapurthala 8. Ludhiana 9. Mansa 10. Pathankot 11. Patiala 12. Sangrur

Himachal Pradesh: 1. Hamirpur 2. Kangra 3. Mandi

Jammu and Kashmir: Jammu and Srinagar

Andhra Pradesh: 1. Srikakulam 2. Vizianagaram 3. Visakhapatnam 4. East Godavari 5. West Godavari 6. Krishna 7. Guntur 8. Prakasham 9. Nellore 10. Kadapa 11. Kurnool 12. Anantapur

Karnataka: 1. Bengaluru Urban 2. Tumkur 3. Hassan 4. Mandya 5. Mysore 6. Dakshina Kannada 7. Shimoga 8. Udupi 9. Davanagere 10. Uttara Kannada 11. Belgaum 12. Dharwad 13. Bijapur 14. Gulbarga

Kerala: 1. Alappuzha 2. Ernakulam 3. Kannur 4. Kasaragod 5. Kollam 6. Kottayam 7. Kozhikode 8. Malappuram 9. Palakkad 10. Pathanamthitta 11. Thiruvananthapuram 12. Thrissur 13. Wayanad

Tamil Nadu: 1. Cuddalore 2. Krishnagiri 3. Tiruvannamalai 4. Viluppuram 5. Chennai 6. Vellore 7. Coimbatore 8. Erode 9. Tirupur 10. Salem 11. Namakkal 12. Dharmapuri 13. Kanyakumari 14. Tirunelveli 15. Thoothukudi 16. Sivagangai 17. Madurai 18. Dindigul 19. Pudukkottai 20. Tiruchirappalli 21. Karur 22. Thanjavur 23. Kallakuruchi 24. Tenkasi

Telangana: 1. Mancherial 2. Peddapalli 3. Warangal (Rural) 4. Warangal( Urban) 5. Rangareddy 6. Hyderabad 7. Khammam

Goa: 1. North Goa 2. South Goa

Assam: 1. Barpeta 2. Cachar 3. Kamrup Metro

Tripura: 1. North Tripura 2. West Tripura

Bihar: 1. Bauxar 2. Bhagalpur 3. Bhojpur 4. Dharbhanga 5. Gaya 6. Muzzafarpur 7. Nalanda 8. Patna 9. Rohtas 10. Samastipur 11. Saran 12. Begusarai 13. Nawada

Chhattisgarh: 1. Raipur 2. Durg

Jharkhand: 1. Bokaro 2. Dhanbad 3. East Singbhum 4. Ranchi

Odisha: 1. Balasore 2. Bhadrak 3. Cuttack 4. Ganjam 5. Jajpur 6. Khorda 7. Mayurbhanj 8. Sambalpur

West Bengal: 1. Purba Medinipur 2. Darjeeling 3. Birbhum 4. North 24 Parganas 5. Cooch Behar 6. Paschim Bardhaman 7. Puba Bardhaman 8. Kolkata 9. Purulia 10. South 24 Parganas 11. Bankura 12. Hoogly 13. Uttar Dinajpur 14. Howrah 15. Dakshin Dinajpur 16. Malda 17. Murshidabad 18. Nadia 19. Paschim Medinipur