There are over 3,000 jewellery stores in the city. But only 150 jewellers have the licence to sell hallmarked jewellery.
A hallmark provided by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) denotes the purity of the precious metal. However, not all jewellers have adhered to the standard as BIS hallmarking continues to be a voluntary scheme.
This Akshaya Tritiya, customers must strive to look for the jewellery licence number that has to be prominently displayed in the showroom, say officials of BIS. The list of licensed jewellers for gold and silver is also available onwww.bis.org.in.
Though the Union Cabinet had approved a bill to make hallmarking of gold jewellery mandatory three years ago, it is yet to be implemented. One of the reasons for it remaining voluntary is obstacles in enforcement and also inadequate manpower.
Hallmarking is done at nearly 160 centres across south India. A BIS 916 hallmark means the ornament contains 91.6 per cent gold.
While purchasing jewellery, customers must look for the five components of the hallmark — BIS logo, 916 (number denoting the fineness of 22-carat gold), logo of the assaying centre, code letter ‘T’ representing year of marking, and the jeweller’s identification mark.
People can also get their ornaments tested at the BIS lab on CIT campus, Fourth Cross Road, Taramani, for Rs. 25. “We need less than a gram of gold to conduct the test. The sample and results can be collected in one or two days,” an official says.
Customers may contact BIS on 044-22541216 to register complaints on purity of gold.
However, issues of wastage and making charges do not come under the purview of BIS.
