BIS conducts raids across Maharashtra to crack down on hallmarked jewellery

2.75 kg gold worth Rs 1.5 cr seized from outlets in Mumbai's Zaveri Bazar; Nagpur, Pune and Thane anong other cities targeted

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) conducted a special enforcement (search and seizure) drive in major cities in the state of Maharashtra to check the misuse of the BIS Hallmark on gold jewellery.

The raids were carried out simultaneously at six cities including Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Nagpur. Two outlets in Mumbai's Zaveri Bazar were raided as part of the operation, and about 2.75 kg of gold jewellery worth over Rs 1.5 crore was seized, the authority said.

Search and seizure operations were also conducted in Thane, Pune and Nagpur to seize falsely marked jewellery and initiate taken action against firms that were duping customers.

Some of the firms were also applying hallmarks on gold jewellery without adequate testing and quality checks specified by BIS, the authorities said in a statement.

According to the ministry of consumer affairs' 2020 order for hallmarking of gold jewellery, all the gold jewellery and gold artefacts are mandated to bear BIS hallmarks from June 2021.

The BIS Hallmark currently consists of three parts – BIS logo, purity in carat and fineness, and a six-digit alphanumeric “Hallmarking Unique Identity (HUID)” number which is different for each article and artefact. The ornaments can be sold only by jewellers registered with BIS, and can be hallmarked only by BIS-recognised Assaying and Hallmarking Centres (AHCs).  

Under the BIS Act 2016, the misuse of BIS standard mark, including hallmark, is punishable with imprisonment up to two years and/or a minimum fine of Rs 2 lakh that can go up to ten times the value of articles affixed or applied with a standard mark, including hallmark.

“Action is being initiated to file a case in the court of law for the aforementioned offence. Actions, including prosecution, are also envisaged against all jewellers who have been party to such illegal spurious marking,” the authorities said.

Details of the hallmarked jewellery such as purity, type of jewellery, name of the jeweller who got the jewellery hallmarked and the hallmarking centre that tested and certified the jewellery can also be seen before making the purchase, by tracking the HUID of the ornament using the “BIS CARE” mobile application, BIS said.

The bureau also has a BIS care mobile application for consumers to inform the authorities about misuse of BIS Hallmark on any jewellery/article.