Buying gold: New hallmarking rules on sale of gold items from April 1

Consumers interested in buying gold will have to follow a set of new rules from April 1, 2023. The Bureau of India Standards (BIS) will be prohibiting the sale of hallmarked gold jewellery or gold artefacts without a 6-digit alphanumeric Hallmark Unique Identification Number (HUID) from tomorrow. 

The HUID code is a six-digit alphanumeric identification number consisting of numbers and letters. From now on, every item of jewellery will get a HUID at the moment of hallmarking, and each one will be unique and different. The introduction of HUID will safeguard consumers and increase their trust in purchasing hallmarked gold jewellery with traceability and confirmation of quality. 

Gold jewellery hallmarking usually has four logos: the BIS logo, the purity of the article, the jeweller's logo, and the Assaying and Hallmarking Centre's logo.  

The government in a notification issued on March 4, 2023, said that the 6-digit alphanumeric HUID would safeguard and protect consumers and enhance their confidence in the purchase of hallmarked gold jewelry 

 “It is further clarified that the sale of hallmarked gold jewelry or gold artefacts without 6-digit alphanumeric HUID shall not be permitted after 31st March 2023 to safeguard and protect the consumers and enhance their confidence in the purchase of hallmarked gold jewelry with traceability and assurance of quality,” the PIB press released said.  

What is gold hallmarking? 

Gold hallmarking of jewellery and artefacts is a purity certification of the precious metal. It was voluntary in nature till June 16, 2021. 

After the introduction of HUID, the hallmark consisted of three marks – BIS logo, purity of the article and six-digit alphanumeric HUID. Each hallmarked article has a unique HUID number which is traceable. 

The six-digit HUID number was introduced from July 1, 2021, and initially, both the old hallmarked jewellery with four marks without HUID and six-digit HUID mark jewellery were allowed to be sold. 

But the consumer affairs ministry said that the simultaneous sale of two types of hallmarked jewellery by the jewellers was creating confusion. 

"However, the simultaneous sale of two types of hallmarked jewellery by the jewellers was creating confusion in the mind of the common consumer," the consumer affairs ministry said in a statement. 

Charges of gold hallmarking 

At present, people can get their jewellery tested for hallmarking. The charges for testing up to four articles are Rs 200. For five or more articles, the charges are Rs 45 per article, according to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution PIB release dated March 11, 2022. 

How to verify HUID mark 

Consumers can verify and validate hallmarked gold jewellery items with HUID numbers by using the 'verify HUID' feature on the BIS CARE app. The app is available for both Android and iOS. 

While verification, the consumers can see details about the jeweller who had the article hallmarked, their registration number, the purity of the article, the type of article, and the details of the hallmarking centre that tested and hallmarked the article.  

Even a regular consumer can use this information to authenticate the item being purchased by matching it with the article type and purity. 

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