Centre expands scope of mandatory gold hallmarking network with addition of 56 districts

The government has expanded the scope of mandatory hallmarking of gold, In a notification released on Wednesday, the Department of Consumer Affairs, under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, announced the addition of 56 new districts to the existing network of 288 districts in the country where the mandatory hallmarking laws are in force.

The announcement confirmed an earlier report by Zee Business that such a decision was under consideration by the Centre.

The move comes after the government conducted a meeting with various stakeholders, including jewelers, associations, and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) on August 17 to discuss the matter. The BIS ensures that quality goods and services reach consumers through various schemes.

Here's the complete list of districts spread across the length and breadth of the country, where the mandatory hallmarking of the precious metal is in force, after the latest addition:

New Delhi: Central Delhi, East Delhi, New Delhi, North Delhi, North West Delhi, South Delhi, South East Delhi and West Delhi
Maharashtra: Ahmednagar, Akola, Amravati, Aurangabad, Chandrapur, Dhule, Jalgaon, Jalna, Kolhapur, Latur, Mumbai City, Mumbai,
Suburban, Nagpur, Nanded, Nandurbar, Nashik, Palghar, Parbhani, Pune, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Satara, Sindhudurg, Solapur, Thane, Wardha and Yavatmal
Jammu & Kashmir: Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Srinagar and Udhampur
Himachal Pradesh: Hamirpur, Kangra and Mandi
Uttarakhand: Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Pauri Garhwal and Pithoragarh
Punjab: Amritsar, Barnala, Bathinda, Fatehgarh Sahib, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Malerkotla, Mansa, Moga, Pathankot, Patiala, Sangrur, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Sri Muktsar Sahib
Haryana: Ambala, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Faridabad, Fatehabad, Gurugram, Hissar, Jind, Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Mahendragarh, Palwal, Rewari, Rohtak, Sirsa, Sonipat and Yamuna Nagar
Uttar Pradesh: Agra, Prayagraj, Ambedkar Nagar, Auraiya, Azamgarh, Ballia, Barabanki, Bareilly, Bhadohi, Budaun, Deoria, Etawah, Faizabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur District, Jhansi, Lucknow, Kanpur Nagar, Mathura, Meerut, Mirzapur, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Pratapgarh, Raebareli, Saharanpur, Shahjahanpur, Varanasi and Basti
Rajasthan: Ajmer, Alwar, Banswara, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Churu, Hanumangarh, Jaipur, Jhunjhunu, Jodhpur, Kota, Nagaur, Pali, Sawai Madhopur, Sikar, Sirohi, Sriganganagar, Udaipur and Jalore
Gujarat: Ahmedabad, Anand, Kutch, Jamnagar, Surat, Vadodara, Porbandar and Valsad. Other districts in the state, brought under the mandatory hallmarking norms, are Banaskantha, Bharuch, Bhavnagar, Botad, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Gir Somnath, Amreli, Junagadh, Kheda, Mehsana, Morbi, Navsari, Patan, Rajkot, Sabarkantha, Surendranagar and Tapi
Bihar: Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Bhojpur, Buxar, Darbhanga, East Champaran, Gaya, Khagaria, Kishanganj, Madhubani, Munger, Muzaffarpur, Nalanda, Nawada, Patna, Rohtas, Samastipur, Saran, Sitamarhi, Saharsa, Siwan, Madhepura and Purnea
West Bengal: Alipurduar, Bankura, Birbhum, Dakshin Dinajpur, Darjeeling, Hooghly, Howrah, Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar, Kolkata, Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia, North 24 Parganas, Paschim Bardhaman, Paschim Medinipur, Purba Bardhaman, Purba Medinipur, Purulia, South 24 Parganas, Uttar Dinajpur
Assam: Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Cachar, Jorhat, Kamrup Metro, Nagaon, Tinsukia and Siva Sagar
Tripura: North Tripura and West Tripura
Madhya Pradesh: Balaghat, Bhopal, Chhatarpur, Chhindwara, Dewas, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur, Katni, Morena, Ratlam, Rewa, Satna and Ujjain
Jharkhand: Bokaro, Dhanbad, East Singhbhum, Garhwa, Ranchi and Deoghar
Odisha: Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Ganjam, Jajpur, Khordha, Mayurbhanj, Puri and Sambalpur
Chhattisgarh: Bilaspur, Durg, Raipur and Rajnandagaon
Goa: North Goa and South Goa
Karnataka: Bagalkot, Belagavi, Bengaluru Urban, Dakshina Kannada, Davanagere, Dharwad, Gadag, Gulbarga, Hassan, Kolar, Mandya, Mysore, Raichur, Shimoga, Tumkur, Uduppi, Uttara Kannada, Vijaypura (Bijapur), Chikkamagaluru and Bellary
Andhra Pradesh: Anantapur, Annamayya, Dr B R Ambedkar Konaseema, East Godavari, Eluru, Guntur, Kadapa, Kurnool, NTR, Nandyal, Nellore, Prakasham, Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and West Godavari
Telangana: Hyderabad, Khammam, Mancherial, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Peddapalli, Rangareddy, Warangal (Rural), Warangal (Urban), Karimnagar and Mahabubnagar
Kerala: Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Kannur, Kasaragod, Kollam, Kottayam, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Wayanad
Tamil Nadu: Chennai, Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Erode, Kallakuruchi, Kanyakumari, Karur, Krishnagiri, Madurai, Nagapattinam, Namakkal, Pudukkottai,
Salem, Ramanathapuram, SivaGanga, Tenkasi, Thanjavur, Theni, Thoothukudi, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli, Tirupathur, Tirupur, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruvarur, Vellore and Viluppuram

Besides, the Union Territories of Chandigarh and Puducherry are also part of the mandatory gold hallmarking network.

What is gold hallmarking?

Gold hallmarking is the accurate determination and official recording of the proportionate content of precious metal in the ornament form. A hallmark is a mark of standard on gold jewellery.

Currently, gold hallmarking comprises three markings: the BIS Hallmark, the figure mentioning the purity of gold in carats and fineness, and the six-character HUID code.

Why is gold hallmarking needed?

The idea behind making hallmarking mandatory for gold jewellery and other related products is to protect the public against adulteration and to force manufacturers to maintain legal standards of fineness.

What’s in it for the consumer?

Using the HUID, the consumer can verify the authenticity of gold jewellery by clicking on the ‘verify HUID icon’ on the BIS Care mobile app. The consumer can also get a piece of hallmarked gold jewellery tested at a BIS-recognised assaying and hallmarking centre (AHC) by paying testing charges of Rs 200.

Source: https://www.zeebiz.com/