As gold hallmarking charges rise, fraudsters get busy too

Kolkata: The rising charges of gold hallmarking are fuelling concern that it may drive unscrupulous jewellers to use fake stamps, particularly in tier-2, 3 and 4 cities where consumer awareness remains low.

Hallmarking charges are paid by consumers when they buy jewellery. However, awareness that the Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) number can be cross-checked on the Bureau of Indian Standards' Care mobile application remains low among buyers.

Rajesh Rokde, chairman of All-India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC), said only about 10% of the country's 800 districts have adequate awareness of the BIS app, leaving consumers vulnerable as fraudsters find increasingly sophisticated ways to replicate hallmarking safeguards, including photographs.


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GJC has raised the issue with consumer affairs minister Pralhad Joshi and the BIS, seeking restoration of the earlier ₹45-per-article rate from the current ₹75. The latest revision represents a 66.67% increase and, the council said, adds a significant compliance burden across a mandatory system.

The industry body has questioned whether the higher cost is matched by a corresponding improvement in consumer protection. Government data cited by GJC shows that recognised assaying and hallmarking centres (AHCs) increased to 1,577 in July 2026 from 1,220 in July 2022, while cumulative gold articles hallmarked with HUID rose to more than 650 million.

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The scale of activity has also expanded substantially. In 2025-26, 132.2 million jewellery articles were hallmarked. At the revised rate, the council estimates the additional cost to the ecosystem at around ₹400 crore, besides roughly ₹80 crore in GST. GJC has sought a detailed cost assessment from BIS, including the additional equipment, manpower, processing and storage costs behind the revised rate. It has also questioned the incremental cost associated with mandatory photography, arguing that photographs can potentially be replicated or manipulated by fraudsters.

The council said hallmarking turnaround time has increased from six hours earlier to 24-36 hours, locking up jewellers' working capital and increasing financing costs.