New Delhi, Nov 30 (KNN) Union Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has said that the government has made hallmarking mandatory for gold jewellery and artifacts from January 15, 2021, to ensure quality.

The department of consumer affairs will issue a notification by January 15, 2020, for making gold hallmarking mandatory.

In order to clear their existing product, the jewellers will be provided a period of one year for implementation of the said decision.

In September this year, Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA) had welcomed the Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s proposal to the Commerce Ministry to make BIS hallmarking mandatory for gold jewellery before Diwali.

While speaking to KNN India over this, IBJA, spokesperson Ketan Shroff had said that be it today or tomorrow the hallmarking needs to be done and the reason behind it that there should be transparency and the customer should get the product as declared.

‘’Hallmark is necessary for the clarity and for betterment of the customers. In the long run it will pay your credibility and your goodwill will come. The customer also come to you if have a goodwill and if you providing a good product it will be long lasting’’ he had asserted.

The hallmarking of gold, which is voluntary in nature at present, is a purity certification of the precious metal.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), under the consumer affairs ministry, is the administrative authority of hallmarking. It has set standards for hallmarking gold jewellery in three grades -- 14 carat, 18 carat and 22 carat.

When he was asked, whether you appreciate the proposal given by Paswan to commerce ministry, he had replied, ‘’exactly, the system has to be in place before anything goes wrong or it should place smoothly. So, there is no harassment nor there will be problem with the actual businessmen. The actual reason is that the business is down so it can be put in a slower way and gradually."

---------------------