Unlike traditional deposits, if you want to put your gold as deposit under the new gold monetisation scheme (GMS), bank will be the last place you would visit. First you will have to visit collecting and purity testing centres (CPTC), which are traditionally known as hallmarking centers. In the country, at the time of launch of the scheme on November 5, about 100 such centers would be ready for all required facilities and licence from the Bureau of Indian Standards.
The success of the GMS depends upon infrastructure of these CPTCs. The government figures released earlier say there are 331 such centres but latest figure given by association of these centers Indian Association of Hallmarking Centers say it is 349.
“When the scheme will be launched before Diwali, 100 such centers would have been equipped with facilities required under the scheme with licence from Bureau of Indian Standards,” said K Anand Kumar, Secretary of the Indian Association of Hallmarking Centers.
Currently, audits of these centers are being carried out by BIS and next week Karnataka based centers would be audited. For offering melting facilities many centers have to invest Rs 4-5 lakh to create that facility for which the process in on. Four centers in Mumbai, 3 in Gujarat and 2 in Delhi have already been audited by the BIS.
Currently, audits of these centers are being carried out by BIS and next week Karnataka based centers would be audited. For offering melting facilities many centers have to invest Rs 4-5 lakh to create that facility for which the process in on. Four centers in Mumbai, 3 in Gujarat and 2 in Delhi have already been audited by the BIS.
All 349 hallmarking centers are yet not approved by BIS to be eligible for the GMS.
He said CPTCs in all major cities including metros and state capitals would be equipped when the scheme is launched and other centers audits would be completed eventually. While no one expects rush to put gold as deposit when the scheme is launched, there are many takers for gold bonds and Ashok Chakra embossed gold coins being launched simultaneously.
According to government notification on GMS, customer will first go to CPTC, get his gold melted and purity tested, deposit there and get a certificate and bank will open his account based on the certificate and credit the gold.
There is a catch here. Bank, CPTC and gold refinery have to sign a tripartite agreement for collecting gold from customer, refining that gold to acceptable gold bars and store it. If you want to open a gold deposit account in bank A and you go to CPTC in your or nearby city, that center should have signed a tripartite agreement iththe same bank, else the center would suggest a different bank with whom it has tie up. Similarly a refinery should also be part of the agreement to accept purity certificate issued by a CPTC.
There is another issue. Several states and union territories have no such centers or only one center. But initially no one expects rush for gold deposits under monetisation program. For example, North India and North –East doesn’t have the facilities or have handful of such centers for hallmarking. Even states like Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jharkhand etc have hardly 1 center each. Only AP 19, Delhi 25, Gujarat 27, Karnataka 27, Kerala 39, TN 57, WB 24 and Maharashtra with 38 (Mumbai 14) hallmarking centers have some spread.