After multiple postponements and various discussions with the stakeholders, the Bureau of Indian Standards Hallmarking Regulations has finally come into effect in 19 cities of Uttar Pradesh including Lucknow and Kanpur from December 1. Notably, this regulation, which was implemented across the country by the union government in June 2021, is applicable in 256 cities across India. If a jeweller violates this rule, they will have to pay hefty fines or even serve jail time up to one year.

BIS to inspect jewellery stores randomly

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As per the new hallmarking rule effective from today, jewellers can only sell gold products with proper hallmarks on each item now. Additionally, the jewellers need to set up boards with proper hallmarks denotations as well. BIS will ensure strict adherence to this rule by making a team undertake random inspections of stores. This monitoring campaign by the concerned body will be conducted across all these districts. Since only nineteen cities in Uttar Pradesh have hallmark centres, other districts are exempted from this rule as of now.

Hallmark to ensure the purity of gold

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While there are 950 hallmark centres in India at present, out of which 19 are placed in Uttar Pradesh. These centres provide a Unique Identification Number to each gold item entailing its purity. While gold jewellery made of 24 carats is marked with '999', 23 carat gets 958, 22 gets 916, 21 gets 875, 18 has 750 to ensure its purity. With the new regulation implemented in the markets now, customers can be assured of the purity of gold that they buy.