No re-think on implementation of mandatory gold hallmarking: BIS

The government on Saturday ruled out any re-think on the implementation of mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery amid a strike call by a jewellers association.

“It makes no sense to be talking about the postponement or withdrawal of the scheme,” Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Director General Pramod Kumar Tiwari said here.

He termed the gold hallmarking initiative a huge success as more than one crore pieces of jewellery have received the hallmark unique identification number (HUID) since the scheme was implemented in 256 districts from June 16 this year.

The All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) has called a nationwide 'token strike' on August 23, against the “arbitrary implementation” of mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery with HUID.

Read | Reconsider call for strike on August 23: Govt to GJC

Seeking to allay the apprehensions of the jewellers, Tiwari said it was not mandatory for jewellers to upload the details of their sales on the BIS website.

“It is a complete misinformation that BIS was tracking the business-to-business movement of jewellery and jewellers were required to upload the details of sales on BIS portal. There is no such requirement on behalf of jewellers,” he said.

Tiwari rejected the concerns of the jewellers that the hallmarking process was delaying the delivery of jewellery to consumers.

“One hallmarking centre can hallmark 500 pieces of jewellery in a single eight-hour shift. There are about 860 assaying and hallmarking centres of which only 161 have got more than 500 jewellery pieces per day. A lot of capacity is underutilised,” he said.

Asked if action had been taken against jewellers for violation of mandatory gold hallmarking, Tiwari said the government had assured the industry that the initial 2-3 months of implementation will focus on handholding and awareness.

“We will not go for surveillance till August 31,” he said.

However, the action against fake hallmarking centers has been taken, Tiwari said, adding raids had been carried out on 10-12 centres in Delhi and South India.