Jewellers in Gujarat hail government's decision of mandatory hallmarking

Rajkot, Jan 13 (ANI): Jewellers in Gujarat welcome the Central Government's decision of mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery as it will protect the consumers from being cheated.

The traders in the Rajkot said that the move would restore the trust of the consumers while they purchase the gold jewellery as they would be more confident about the authenticity of the yellow metal.

President of Rajkot Gold Dealers Association, Bhayabhai Saholiya, said on Thursday that the move would help to sell pure gold to the customers and they would be saved from unscrupulous jewellers.

"Anybody can buy the jewellery now without any hesitation. After the hallmarking of gold is made compulsory, there cannot be any compromise with its purity," said Saholiya.

The cabinet on Wednesday had approved a proposal for mandatory hallmarking of gold as it was optional earlier.

The proposal was cleared after certain changes were made in the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act, 1986, which aims to expand the ambit of mandatory hallmarking and it would include more products.

In India the price of gold has surged to a record high nearing 27,500 rupees per 10 grams. Saholiya added that customers would surely ask for guarantee, if they would invest in the yellow metal.

"The hallmark is marked in the jewellery and it consists of five logos. One is of BIS, second is of purity, third is of lab, fourth is of jewellers and the fifth mark is the year," said Saholiya.

The customers said hallmarking of gold would protect them from spurious and substandard imports and correct assessment of the worth of the jewellery would be made, when the consumer decides to sell it in the near future.

"I like buying hallmark jewellery because it is for my benefit as 916 hallmark insures that I am buying pure gold . So in future if I sell the 916 hallmark marked jewellery, I will get the full price back," said Varsha Soni, a customer. (ANI)