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All that glitters is not always pure gold.
Gold hallmarking is to become
mandatory in India from January 1, 2008 under new proposals put
forward by the Indian government. L Mansingh, secretary in the
consumer affairs department, said: "The initiative is being
undertaken to protect consumer interest and to boost gold jewellery
exports from the country." It said that 88 per cent of the jewellery
being sold showed between 28 and 37 per cent less purity than was
claimed.
Indeed many consumers in India are being cheated by jewellers,
according to a survey conducted by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
One of the market surveys of gold jewellers in eight metro cities of
India, conducted by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), had
questioned the very basis on which gold jewellery is sold and bought
in India. The survey pointed to something sinister on part of
jewellers. The results showed that 88 per cent of the jewellers
surveyed didn't stick to the purity levels of gold articles sold by
them.
This clearly brings home the fact that all that glitters is not pure gold
and that one should never take a jeweller's word on its face value,
when it comes to the purity of the yellow metal that you are buying.
While buying golden ornaments, one should always look for third
party authentication of gold quality, thus go for only hallmarked
jewellery.
The BIS inspectors of the bureau surveyed: Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai,
Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Jaipur. It got the
samples tested at the gold assaying centers to verify the jewellers'
claim that they were of 22-carat purity. While in Kolkata, Hyderabad
and Jaipur, not even a single piece of jewellery purchased was found
to be of 22-carat as claimed, only two of the 15 samples were found
to be of 22-carat gold in Mumbai as well as in Bangalore. In
Ahmedabad and Delhi, three samples were of 22-carat purity, whereas
in Chennai, four pieces of jewellery were found to be of 22-carat
gold. The samples were picked up from outlets of different sizes,
located in different parts of the cities, along with a
representative of a consumer organisation.
Recognising the need for protecting consumers from such malpractices, the
government, through the BIS, introduced in April 2000, hallmarking
of gold jewellery in the country. Hallmarking is a system of
analysing or assaying of precious metals like gold in a laboratory
to ascertain their purity or fineness and certifying it and
gives the buyer a guarantee on the purity of gold, issued by an
independent agency other than the jeweller.
India, which is the largest consumer of gold in the world, consumes about
850 tonnes of gold per annum. Rough estimates put the number of
jewellery-making units in the country at 100,000. And so far only
about 265 jewellers have got the BIS certification for getting their
jewellery hallmarked. Thus, with most jewellers giving about 12.5
per cent less gold than quoted, they may be making a phenomenal Rs
36,000 crore off consumers. According to the World Gold Council (WGC),
if international hallmarking standards are implemented here, India
would emerge as a major market centre for gold.
To prevent jewellers who are making huge profits cheating consumers
by selling low-carat jewellery, can only by getting their articles
hallmarked, unless the consumer demands so. This can happen only
through consumer education and awareness. At the same time,
additional assaying and hallmarking facilities should be created to
cater to jewellers in these areas. So, whenever you buy gold
jewellery, go for a hallmarked piece. You can get the names of
jewellers selling hallmarked jewellery in your city from the BIS Web
site by logging on to BIS site.
You may have to pay about Rs 50 more for the hallmarked jewellery, but
that's a small price to pay for quality. If, jewellers sell you
jewellery made of say 16.5-carat gold, claiming it to be of 22-carat
purity, you stand to lose as much as Rs 1000-1200 for every 10-gm of
jewellery bought.
"A customer's interests is essential
and the purity and fineness of purchased gold can now be guaranteed
by the BIS logo. Customers should look out for display boards
stating that their jewellers have had their products assayed or they
should ask to see the hallmark symbols," said M.Sadasivam, Director,
BIS, Bangalore.
A hallmarked product consists of the BIS mark, purity mark, the
hallmarking centre logo, the mark of the jeweller and the year of
making which is indicated by an alphabet. To get more information
see:
BIS:
Hallmarking of gold jewellery
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Customer's protection by hallmarking of gold
jewellery 
