Falsely Hallmarked gold worth Rs.1.5 crores seized by BIS across raids in Maharashtra

Across major cities of Maharashtra, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) executed special enforcement searches to curb the misuse of BIS Hallmark on gold jewellery.

Post By : IJ News Service On 24 January 2023 3:31 PM

Raids were held simultaneously at six locations across the state including Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Nagpur. After the raids, the department revealed to have seized falsely Hallmarked gold worth Rupees 1.5 crores. 

After this raid, BIS has advised buyers to look for three signs to ensure that the gold they are buying is genuine. 

1)BIS Standard mark

A piece of jewellery with the BIS hallmark has the BIS logo and this is proof that the product has been verified by one of the BIS's authorised labs. This logo is printed on gold and silver jewellery as well as coins. BIS is the only organisation in India that can officially approve to hallmark gold as a sign of its purity. 

2) Fineness/Purity Grade

Fineness number and karat (K or KT) are the second mark of verified purity. Since 24K gold is too soft, gold alloys with other metals like silver and zinc are used to make gold more durable especially for jewellery. 

The fineness number on the other hand is another technique to gauge the purity which measures purity in parts per thousand. It is simply another word for 22K gold. For, e.g., if 22K gold weighs 100 gm, it contains 91.6 gm of pure gold per 100 grams of alloy.

 3) 6-digit alpha-numeric code or HUID
This code consists of numbers and letters. This is given to every piece of jewellery at the time of hallmarking and it is there different for every piece. 

This number also enables traceability. This is critical to the credibility of Hallmarking and addressing complaints regarding the purity of Hallmarked jewellery.

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