BANGALORE: A Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) market survey of 120 gold samples across eight cities conducted by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in 2000-01 revealed that 88 per cent of the samples did not meet the declared fineness and the highest purity shortage was found to be a shocking 38.6 per cent lesser than the declared value.

In this context, BIS on Monday conducted an awareness programme on hallmarking of gold jewellery for gold consumers and jewellers. "In India alone, over 880 tons of gold is consumed annually. It will be surprising to note that these customers lose about Rs. 950 crores annually by buying low quality gold than they pay for and these jewellers are not even checked," said P. Sengupta, Director and Head, BIS, Bangalore.

BIS has been identified by the Government and launched a Product Certification Scheme in 2000. They grant licences to gold manufacturers and jewellers, regulate assaying and hallmarking of gold jewellery so as to protect consumers against irregular gold quality by acting as a third party assurance that the jewellery purchased is not under-carat.

"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 (A for 2000; B for 2001...F for 2005)

Hallmarking, which has been introduced in India on voluntary basis, is the accurate determination and official recording of the proportionate content of precious metal in gold jewellery.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous | Engagements |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Updates: Breaking News |