GJC seeks postponement of mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery to June 2022

All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC), the national apex body of the gems and jewellery industry, has written to the Department of Consumer Affairs to consider extending the deadline for implementation of mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery to June 2022 instead of June 2021 due to Covid-19.

Also, out of the 733 districts in the country, only 245 districts now have A&H Centres (as per BIS data) and GJC urged the BIS to ensure that there is at least one A&H Centre in each district in the country.

GJC has organised an online national level industry meet to discuss the issues and problems in mandatory hallmarking regime on Wednesday.

In a press release, the GJC whole-heartedly welcomed the new "pro-consumer" government order dated January 15, 2020, issued by the Bureau of Indian Standard and further amended Order dated October 9, 2020, mandating that all gold articles are required to be hallmarked and sold only by registered jewellers. However, GJC stated that it is essential to have properly accredited, fully functional A&H (Assaying & Hallmarking) Centres in all districts across the country, with proper infrastructure and trained personnel prior to the requirement of mandatory hallmarking.

As per the recent data taken from BIS website, there are 940 A&H centres in 245 districts across India and the number of jewellers registered with BIS are 31,585.

Ashish Pethe, Chairman, GJC, said, “There are various operational and procedural issues in relation to implementation of the mandatory requirement, which if unaddressed will create an obstacle for compliance of the hallmarking requirements. This will also severely affect the jewellery industry, leading to drastic consequences such as cessation of business, loss of livelihood, litigation and unnecessary waste of time and energy. Mandatory hallmarking in its current state has the potential to affect the livelihood of millions of people and will lead to huge disruption in the century old jewellery business.”