Hallmark decision, say TN gold-lovers
With the government passing a law that every piece of gold jewellery sold has to carry hallmarks, buyers need not worry any longer about being duped.
In a bid to protect consumers from unscrupulous jewellers, the Union Cabinet cleared the proposal by approving amendments to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act, 1986, to make hallmarking of gold mandatory. Till now it was only a voluntary measure undertaken by few jewellers.
Gold hallmarking is a purity certification issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) that falls under the consumer affairs ministry.
It is a seal of quality assurance of gold wherein orname|nts are subjected to carat meter tests followed by fire assay method to ensure their composition and
purity.
Chennai is the first city in the country to have an exclusive BIS gold testing laboratory. However, Tamil Nadu has about 25 assay centres alone across all major cities such as Chennai, Tirunelveli, Madurai and Coimbatore which test about 75,000 pieces of jewellery every month.
Welcoming the move, Mr Anantha Padmanaban, president of Gold Club of Chennai, said, “Now, nobody can take the consumers for a ride.
The Bill will ensure that hallmark jewellery is sold also in tier-II cities as most jewellers in metro cities are already selling hallmarked ornaments.”
Following the BIS (Amendment) Bill, the government can bring in compulsory certification regime for any article or process that it considers necessary from the point of view of health, safety, environment and prevention of deceptive practice.
Presently about 77 items, including cement, mineral water and milk products, are certified through mandatory hallmarking under the BIS Act for conformity with expected quality levels.
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