Gold jewellery hallmarking fee hiked 67%: GJC seeks BIS review, flags higher cost for lightweight ornaments

A nearly 67% hike in mandatory jewellery hallmarking charges could disproportionately raise the cost of lightweight and lower-value gold jewellery, prompting the Gem & Jewellery Council (GJC) to seek a review of the revised fee structure by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

The hallmarking charge has been increased from ₹45 to ₹75 per article, irrespective of its weight. This means a one-gram piece and a substantially heavier jewellery article attract the same ₹75 compliance charge, making the increase far more significant in percentage terms for mass-market and middle-income consumers buying lightweight jewellery.

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With gold prices already at elevated levels, the industry fears that the higher fixed compliance cost could eventually be passed through the jewellery value chain, adding to the cost of every article.

GJC chairman Rajesh Rokde said the industry supports mandatory hallmarking but questioned the rationale for raising the per-article charge sharply at a time when hallmarking volumes have expanded significantly.

“GJC and the jewellery industry have consistently supported hallmarking because purity assurance and consumer confidence are fundamental to our trade. But support for hallmarking does not mean that a nearly 67% increase in the cost of mandatory compliance should pass without examination,” Rokde said.

“Hallmarking volumes have expanded enormously. The industry therefore deserves to understand why the per-article charge needs to rise from ₹45 to ₹75 at this stage,” he added.

The council said the focus should also remain on plugging leakages in the hallmarking ecosystem. It pointed to BIS enforcement actions in Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Assam and other locations involving fake hallmarking, unauthorised operations and other instances of non-compliance.

“Before increasing the burden on compliant jewellers, the priority should be to address these distortions and strengthen enforcement. Increasing the official fee does not by itself make the hallmarking ecosystem stronger,” Rokde said.

GJC vice chairman Avinash Gupta said the economics of compliance needed closer examination, particularly when formal jewellers compete with unauthorised operators.

“Compliance must remain commercially sustainable. If the compliant route becomes progressively more expensive while informal and unauthorised channels continue to operate, the differential between the two widens. That is not desirable either for the Government, the industry or the consumer,” Gupta said.

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The GJC also raised questions over discounting and commercial inducements in the hallmarking market. Gupta said the industry first needs clarity on how the existing ₹45 charge is actually being realised across the market before imposing a higher official fee.

“If ₹45 itself is not being uniformly realised across the market, the first question should be why that is happening and whether the present economic model requires correction. Simply prescribing ₹75 without studying actual market practices may not address the underlying problem,” he said.

The council stressed that its demand is for a review of the fee structure and not dilution of hallmarking. The industry wants purity assurance and consumer protection to remain intact while ensuring that the cost of mandatory compliance does not disproportionately weigh on smaller-ticket jewellery purchases.