Gold hallmarking deferred in metros

The government has postponed the mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery that was to be implemented in four metropolitan cities from January 1, a senior industry official said.

Hallmarking certifies the purity of gold used in jewellery. "We received communication from the government yesterday saying it had postponed the mandatory hallmarking (of gold jewellery) until further notice," Ashok Minawalla, chairman, All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation, told NewsWire18 today.

Earlier, gems and jewellery traders had threatened to close down their businesses to protest amendments to the Hallmarking Act. Their contention was that hallmarking cannot be made a must as proper infrastructure was not in place.

"The country has only 75 hallmarking centres, while the requirement, if hallmarking is made mandatory, will be 3,000," Minawalla said.

"It will take at least one year to set up reasonable infrastructure for implementation of the Act," he said.

Minawalla also demanded that the government should give them the draft of the amended Hallmarking Act besides removing the compulsory licensing clause.

Additionally, the government must set a clear agenda for the existing stocks which, after implementation of the Act, if not sold, would cause loss to the industry in crores.

Mandatory hallmarking would prove fruitful for jewellers who charge any amount under the guise of labour charges but bad for customers who will have to shell out 10-12 per cent more than the present 5 per cent, said Prithviraj Kothari, director, Riddhi Siddhi Bullion.

As a matter of practice, jewellers maintain two months of advance stock.