(a) the steps taken by the Government to check the purity of jewellery without hallmarks;
(b) the procedure in place for getting the purity of jewellery checked;
(c) the State-wise details of jewellery purity testing centers; and
(d) whether any time limit and fee has been fixed for the testing centres for issuing test reports after checking the purity of jewellery and if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE
CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)
(a) : From 24 December 2021, Government has allowed consumers to get his/her non-hallmarked jewellery/sample tested from any of the BIS recognized Assaying & Hallmarking Centres (AHCs), on chargeable basis. The software for consumer gold testing has been launched on 02 March 2022.
(b) : Consumers can bring one or multiple pieces of jewellery lying with them for testing to BIS recognized AHC.
Testing of the gold jewellery is to be carried out as per the procedure mentioned in the Indian Standard IS 1418:2009. The lot brought by the consumer upto 10 pieces may be considered as a mixed lot and tested as per the provisions of mixed lots mentioned in the IS 15820: 2009 - General Requirements for Establishment and Operation of Assaying and Hallmarking Centres. The guidelines on testing of non-hallmarked gold lying with the consumers are at Annexure-I.
(c) : State-wise details of jewellery purity testing centers (AHCs) are at Annexure-II.
(d) : As per the provision of the relevant Indian Standard, the centre shall ensure that the jewellery/artefacts that are assayed and hallmarked, are delivered to the client maximum within 48 hours.
AHC shall charge Rs. 45 per gold jewellery article for testing from consumer, however the minimum charges for one lot shall be Rs 200.
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ANNEXURE-I
ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4536 TO BE ANSWER ON 30-03-2022 REGARDING HALLMARK JEWELLERY.
Guidelines on Testing of old gold lying with the consumers from BIS recognized AHC
a. Consumer can bring one or multiple pieces of jewellery lying with them for testing to BIS recognized Assaying and Hallmarking centre (AHC).
b. The lot brought by the consumer upto 10 pieces may be considered as a mixed lot and tested as per the provisions of mixed lots mentioned in the IS 15820: 2009.
c. The jewellery brought by the consumer shall be weighed in presence of the consumer.
d. Each article shall be tagged with a serial number for identification.
e. Each jewellery piece should be individually checked by X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) for purity of gold and also for the absence of prohibited elements such as Iridium, Ruthenium, Cadmium and Osmium.
f. Sampling should be done in such a way that there is minimum damage to the jewellery. The consent for the sampling method shall be obtained from the consumer beforehand.
g. If desired by consumer the report may be issued for the jewellery tested only based on the XRF however in the report it should be specifically mentioned that XRF gives gold content of surface only and the purity checked by XRF may vary by ±5 ppt.
h. After testing by fire assay a test report should be issued to the consumer by the AHC in the prescribed format. The photograph and weight of the jewellery shall also be mentioned in the report.
i. The jewellery along with cornets and remnants, if any, should be returned to the consumer on the same day. If due to any reason the fire assay could not be done on the same day, the jewellery should be returned to the consumer after XRF and only the sample retained by the AHC which shall be tested and cornet returned to the consumer the next day.
j. The AHC shall be responsible for the purity tested by him and thus if the AHC has any doubt about the jewellery being hollow, wax filled or made of mixed metals etc. the same shall be mentioned in the report.
k. AHC shall charge Rs 45 per article for testing from consumer, however the minimum charges for one lot shall be Rs 200.
l. Before testing, the following should be informed to the consumer and also displayed at a prominent position in AHC that is easily visible to the consumer:
• That the purity of gold shall be tested by two methods - a) XRF method b) Fire assaying method.
• XRF method is a non-destructive, preliminary method and gives gold content of surface only. It may and may not represent average purity of the gold article. Purity certificate cannot be issued on the basis of XRF test only.
• Fire assaying method is a destructive method. It is, however, most widely used and accurate method for gold content globally.
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ANNEXURE-II
ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4536 TO BE ANSWER ON 30-03-2022 REGARDING HALLMARK JEWELLERY.
State wise/UT wise list of AHCs as on 28 March 2022
Sl No State/UT No. of AHC
1 Andhra Pradesh 57
2 Assam 11
3 Bihar 37
4 Chandigarh 6
5 Chhattisgarh 10
6 Delhi 42
7 Goa 2
8 Gujarat 88
9 Haryana 25
10 Himachal Pradesh 3
11 Jammu & Kashmir 4
12 Jharkhand 10
13 Karnataka 67
14 Kerala 85
15 Madhya Pradesh 27
16 Maharashtra 130
17 Odisha 24
18 Pondicherry 2
19 Punjab 30
20 Rajasthan 44
21 Tamil Nadu 123
22 Telangana 36
23 Tripura 2
24 Uttar Pradesh 70
25 Uttarakhand 5
26 West Bengal 138
Grand Total 1078
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