THINGS TO REMEMBER WHITE PURCHASING HALLMARKING GOLD ARTICLES IF WANT NOT TO BE LOOTED BY JEWELLERS

99% of BIS certified jewellers do not follow any Hallmarking rules. Due to having no knowledge, customers think that he purchased hallmark gold jewellery at perfect rate as well as assurance given by the jewellers that they will return the money after deducting 10% of the total value , if in future they want to give back their gold jewellery to them. BUT in actual whats are main things to keep in mind are as per BIS hallmarking rules.
1. HALL MARKING CHARGES WHICH ARE 35/ ( Thirty five rupees only) PER ARTICLE SHOULD BE MENTIONED SEPARATELY IN THE BILL ...this is mandatory clause but no jewellers write it.
2. MOST OF JEWELLERS PRINT LOGO OF BIS HALLMARK and WRITE " CERTIFIED BY BIS" in RETAIL INVOICE BUT this is not legal as per BIS hallmarking Act.
3. LOGO OF JEWELLER WHICH IS CERTIFIED BY BIS TO EMBOSS IT ON HALLMARKING ARTICLE IS NOT KNOWN TO CUSTOMER. HALLMARKS ON GOLD JEWELLERY ARE VERY TINY SO ITS IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE THEM WITH NAKED EYES, DUE TO WHICH JEWELLERS EMBOSS WRONG LOGO ON IT.

so, while purchasing hallmark jewellery, keep all above things in mind and after purchasing do testing of your jewellery at any BIS certified assaying and hallmarking centre's at just 35/ rupees charges and done within 15 minutes if you really want to keep safe your hard earned money.

AS per BIS it is neccessary
DISPLAYED BY THE JEWELLERIN THEIR SHOWROOM
DISPLAYS AT SALES OUTLET
1. The Jeweller shall display the logo of the Bureau on the outside of the sales outlet.
2. The original licence issued by the Bureau for sale of Hallmarked articles shall be displayed
prominently in the sales outlet.
3. The Jeweller shall prominently display inside the sales outlet that Hallmarked gold/silver jewellery/artefacts are available there for sale. The following details shall also be prominently displayed
on a display board:
i) the components of Hallmark and correlation between purity in terms of fineness and
corresponding caratage.
ii) information for customer that the Hallmark can be checked with a magnifying glass of minimum
10 X magnification available at the outlet, before buying any jewellery/artefact.
the contact details of Bureau's offices for lodging complaint.
iii) the charges for Hallmarking as may be prescribed by the Bureau.

While submitting any gold/silver jewellery/artefact for Hallmarking, the Jeweller shall ensure the
following:
i) The article manufactured or procured is free from the elements prohibited in IS 1417:1999 as
amended by the Bureau or IS 2112: 2003 as amended by the Bureau.
ii) Fineness of precious metal content is not marked in any manner before its submission for
Hallmarking. No other identification mark/logo or mark like “KDM” is present on the article.
iii) Artefacts (medallions) with designs which are likely to resemble currency of any country shall
not be submitted for Hallmarking.
iv) The Jeweller shall use only the identification mark/logo as given at Annex II of this agreement.
The Jeweller shall not use any other identification mark or logo for Hallmarking. The Jeweller
shall also furnish the A&H Centre with the same identification mark or logo as submitted to the
Bureau for the purpose of Hallmarking on jewellery/artefact.
v) The Jeweller, shall not on its own, apply any identification mark/logo or any other mark, in any
manner on the Hallmarked jewellery/artefact.
vi) The Jeweller shall pay the Hallmarking charges in advance to the A&H Centre as per the rates
fixed by BIS from time to time. Applicable taxes shall also be payable.
RECORDING SALES OF HALLMARKED JEWELLERY/ARTEFACT
1. The Jeweller shall maintain a stock register of Hallmarked articles available in the licensed
premises. This Register shall be made available to the Bureau on demand.
2. The Jeweller shall be fully responsible for the declared fineness of Hallmarked jewellery/
artefacts sold by it.
3. Appropriate record of sales of each Hallmarked jewellery shall be maintained for at least five
years and made available to the Bureau on demand.
4. Charges paid to the A&H centre for Hallmarking shall be shown separately in each bill. Every
sale shall be recorded on a computerized system by the Jeweller as and when such system is introduced.
COMPLAINT AND COMPENSATION
A. The Jeweller shall take responsibility to redress any complaint received on Hallmarked
gold/silver jewellery/artefact sold by it with payment of compensation to the buyer at the rate stated
below if a Hallmarked jewellery/artefact sold by him is found substandard on testing at a referral
laboratory:
Compensation amount (Rs) = 3 X Difference observed in testing of purity X weight of gold or
silver in the article X gold/silver rate (MCX spot rate, in Rs) on date of issue of the test report by the
Bureau referral laboratory.
B. If the Jeweller does not redress a complaint about sale of Hallmarked jewellery/artefact found
substandard on test at a referral laboratory, the buyer may file a petition against the Jeweller under
Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The Bureau will help the buyer with necessary documentary evidence as
may be required to substantiate the petition.
PENALTIES
1. There may be situations in the sales outlet or actions committed by the Jeweller which are likely
to denigrate the sale of Hallmarked jewellery/artefact. Therefore, these have been termed as offences and
categorized as follows.
Category I offences (issues likely to affect the sale of Hallmarked articles):
i) Non-availability of magnifying glass to demonstrate Hallmarking to customer or calibrated
balance for weighing of articles for sale;
ii) Not meeting the display requirements;
iii) Non- intimation of significant changes in Jeweller’s management;
iv) Shifting of premises without prior information to the Bureau.
Category II offences (issues likely to affect operation of the licence):
i) Failure to take corrective actions on discrepancies reported during market surveillance within
stipulated timeframe;
ii) Lack of cooperation with the Bureau in conduct of market surveillance or in resolving issues;
iii) Inadequate system/ record keeping of articles sent for Hallmarking or receipt of hallmarked
articles from A&H Centre or sale of Hallmarked articles;
iv) Hallmarking charges not shown in the bill or amount charged is found higher than actual amount
paid to the A&H Centre for Hallmarking of a particular article;
v) Failure to observe the terms and conditions of agreement.
Category III (unethical practices)
i) Hallmarking done from non-recognized A&H Centre;
ii) Counterfeiting of Hallmark on articles;
iii) Sale of articles with incomplete Hallmark;
iv) Jeweller found indulging in any other malpractices.
2. The Jeweller shall be required to pay penalty to the Bureau as stated below with respect to
categories of offences explained above:
Sl. No. Deviation Proposed Penalty
1 Category I offence (s): First offence – Nil
Second offence – Rs. 2 000
Third offence - Rs. 5 000
2. Category II offence (s): First offence – Rs. 1 000
Second offence – Rs. 5 000
Third offence - Rs. 10 000
3. Category III offence (s): Rs 20 000 and cancellation of the licence.

HAVING ALL THESE RULES, TILL DATE NO PANELTY HAS BEEN IMPOSED ON ANY JEWELLER DESPITE KNOWING THAT NO JEWELLERS FOLLOW ANY RULES OF HALLMARKING. more