New Delhi. The central government has taken an important step for those buying gold jewellery. Now mandatory hallmarking of gold has been implemented in more districts of the country. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has notified the fourth amendment expanding this provision. After this, hallmarking of gold jewelery has become mandatory in a total of 398 districts of 26 states and union territories.
Earlier this rule was applicable in 392 districts. Six new districts have also been included under the new notification. All nine districts of Delhi have now come under the purview of this system. This will directly benefit those customers who are worried about the purity of gold while buying jewellery.
Rules applicable in many states
The new list includes 41 districts of Uttar Pradesh, 30 of Maharashtra, 32 of Tamil Nadu and 26 of Rajasthan. The rule of compulsory hallmarking is applicable in 26 districts each of Bihar and Gujarat along with 21 districts of Haryana.
How to identify the purity of gold?
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) issues hallmarks to identify the purity of gold. Hallmarked jewelery bears the BIS mark and a six-digit HUID number. This number tells the unique identity of each piece of jewelry. Customers can get information about jewelery by checking HUID number through BIS Care app.
Hallmarking can be done on old jewelery
If you have old gold jewelery and it is not hallmarked, then it can be checked for purity. For this, the jewelery will have to be tested by visiting a BIS approved testing centre. After testing, its purity can be known and hallmarking can be done as per the prescribed procedure.
How to identify 22, 18 and 14 carat gold
While buying gold, definitely look at the number written on the jewellery. This makes it easier to understand its purity.
22 carat: 916 i.e. approximately 91.6 percent pure gold.
18 carat: 750 i.e. 75 percent pure gold.
14 carat: 585 i.e. approximately 58.5 percent pure gold.
In the remaining part, other metals are added, which gives strength to the jewellery.
The purpose of this arrangement of the government is to increase transparency in gold business and to protect customers from low purity jewellery. Therefore, next time while buying gold jewellery, not only check the design and price but also check the BIS hallmark and HUID number.