The Bureau of Indian Standards, Southern Region, has approached the Tamil Nadu government to sensitise stakeholders to gold hallmarking in districts where it is not mandatory to enhance the credibility of ornaments and establish hallmarking and assaying centres to ensure purity.
Hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts, which ensures authenticity of the gold offered in the market, was made mandatory in June 2021 with Hallmarking Unique ID (HUID). However, the districts of Ariyalur, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Mayiladuthurai, Perambalur, Tiruvallur, Virudhunagar, Ranipet, and the Nilgiris are yet to come under the ambit of mandatory hallmarking.
BIS officials said establishment of assaying and hallmarking centres to test the purity of the ornaments was one of the criteria for mandatory gold hallmarking in a district.
U.S.P. Yadav, Deputy Director-General, Southern Region, BIS, said, “We chose Virudhunagar and Tiruvallur districts that are close to major cities and have the potential for establishing assaying and hallmarking centres and sensitising stakeholders to the importance of consumer protection. This would help bring these districts under the ambit of mandatory hallmarking.”
There are plans to approach the district administration to spread awareness at the grassroots of the importance of hallmarking to prevent the sale of adulterated precious metals.
In Tamil Nadu, nearly 14,056 gold jewellers and 1,366 silver merchants have registered for BIS mandatory hallmarking since 2022. A total of 183 assaying and hallmarking centres are available to test the purity and fineness of gold ornaments across the State.
G. Bhavani, Director and Head, BIS, Chennai branch, said consumers in some districts were deprived of hallmarked gold and quality assurance of ornaments for want of assaying and hallmarking centres. The BIS would hold meetings with stakeholders (the government, consumers and jewellers) on the importance of hallmarking when the demand for gold was on the rise.
Besides various other activities in both districts, the statutory organisation plans to involve students in a door-to-door campaign on gold hallmarking. It has identified 488 gold and silver jewellers in Tiruvallur and 316 gold and silver jewellers in Virudhunagar.
Mr. Yadav said nearly 9.84 crore gold articles have been hallmarked with HUID since 2022 in the State. The BIS had cancelled the licences of 35 assaying centres in Tamil Nadu in the past two years owing to malpractices. Periodic surveillance was being done to protect buyers from fraudulence.
