The hallmark on a piece of gold jewellery is supposed to end all doubt about its purity. That assurance is now wearing thin, thanks to a growing band of unscrupulous hallmarking centre operators, industry sources said.
They are accused of tampering hallmark and handing out unlawful commissions to jewellers to attract additional business, thereby compromising the purity of gold jewellery.
Such practices are growing as the gold jewellery market goes through a difficult period due to rising prices and slowing demand, according to industry sources. The menace is more pronounced in smaller cities and towns, particularly in north India, they added.
Nitin Khandelwal, a former chairman of the All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council, concurred that “various hallmarking centres are providing jewellers with incentives to attract additional business”. He also flagged the feasibility of hallmark tampering by assigning the hallmark unique identification (HUID) number to multiple pieces of jewellery of the same design. In addition, some hallmarking centres even issue 22-carat certificates for 20-carat jewellery, industry sources said.
Under the hallmarking system, mandated in 2021, the 1,500-odd authorised hallmarking centres in the country are required to submit the six-character alphanumeric HUID code and photograph of each piece of jewellery to the the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to be uploaded on its website. The HUID code is meant to guarantee the authenticity and traceability of each piece of hallmarked gold jewellery in India. If a consumer doubts the purity of a piece of jewellery, he or she can verify it on the BIS portal or mobile app, said Surendra Mehta, national secretary of the Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association. Once the HUID number is fed into the BIS system, it displays the picture of the jewellery as well as grammage.
Hallmarking centres are permitted to charge jewellers Rs 75 (with a minimum consignment value of Rs 200) for a piece of gold jewellery, raised from Rs 45 earlier this month. The increase in hallmarking charge came after nearly five years, during which operating costs of these centres grew manifold and the need arose for machinery replacement.
However, many centres are charging jewellers less for hallmarking or pay commissions in exchange for larger orders. The manufacturers and wholesalers benefited from this arrangement as they were required to pay reduced fees.
In the end, all parties in the chain, except for the consumer, reaped the rewards.