Brief History:

Gold is very attracted metals from ancient times for its intrinsic value. Gold is also a popular investment choice for the vast population in India. Thus, to protect the consumer against adulteration and to obligate jewelers to maintain legal standards of purity, government mandated Bureau of Indian standards to start the Hallmarking scheme for gold in year 2000. The scheme for silver was later introduced in the year 2005.

What is hallmarking:

Hallmarking is the accurate determination and official recording of the proportionate content of precious metal in the jewellery/artefacts or bullion/coins. BIS hallmarking is a system for gold as well as silver jewellery sold in India certifying the purity of the metal. It certifies that the piece of jewellery conforms to a set of standards laid by the Bureau of Indian Standards.

Regulatory Provisions for Hallmarking:

Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is the Regulatory Body for granting Registration/License under the provisions of Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 read with Bureau of Indian Standards (Hallmarking) Regulations, 2018. Quality control order for mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery/artefacts has been issued on 15 Jan 2020 by the Govt. of India. Mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery/artefacts shall come into force with effect from 01 June 2021.  A jeweler who wants to sell hallmarked jewellery has to obtain a registration from Bureau of Indian Standards.

Bureau of Indian Standards has been issued guidelines for Grant, Operation, Renewal and Cancellation of certificate of registration of jewelers. These guidelines stipulate the procedure for Grant, Operation, Renewal, and Cancellation of Certificate of Registration. These are to be read in conjunction with BIS Act 2016, BIS Rules 2017 and BIS (Hallmarking) Regulations, 2018.

Registration for BIS hallmarking:

Any jeweller willing to obtain Certificate of Registration for Selling Hallmarked Jewellery/artefacts has to submit the application with BIS. The registration of jeweler’s process has been made online. The jeweler fills the application form online, uploads the requisite documents, pays the fees online and the registration is granted instantly and can be downloaded by the jeweler. The same procedure is applicable for renewal of registration. Registration is granted to the applicant, if the application is found to be complete with all necessary documents and fees

Documents required for Registration:

1. Proof of establishment of the firm or company (Any one of the document given below)
2. 1. Certificate of Registration issued by Registrar of companies along with memorandum of articles
   2. Registered or Notarized Partnership Deed in case applicant is a Partnership Firm.
   3. Certificate from a Chartered Accountant if applicant is a Proprietorship Firm or any other document like trade licence indicating firm as proprietorship, or
   4. GST Registration Certificate indicating status of firm as proprietorship firm

• Proof of address of firm’s premises (Any one of the document given below)

1. Registration with State Government Authority/ Trade Licences
2. GST registration certificate.
3. Income Tax Assessment Order
4. Latest Property tax receipt
5. Rent agreement with last rent receipt
6. Sale/ Lease Deed agreement

• Proof of Identity of the signatory

1. Aadhar based verification/ e- signature
2. Self-certified copy of any one of following documents as identity proof of signatory on the Application: –

• Aadhar Card –
• Driving Licence –
• PAN card –
• Voter Identity card –
• Passport –
• Identity Certificate with photo issued by Gazetted Officer on official letterhead.

• Map indicating location of premises from nearest land mark Location map of premises from some nearest prominent landmark for each outlet, as applicable.

• Proof in regard to annual turnover

1. Self-certified copy of GST return of previous financial year, or Certificate issued by a Chartered Accountant for Turnover, if firms/ Jewellers turnover is below 40 lakhs and he does not have GST Registration, or Balance sheet of Jeweller, dully certified by the Chartered Accountant. An undertaking may be obtained from the Jeweller that if his turnover exceeds threshold limit he will take GST Registration and will submit GST Return to BIS after completion of one financial year and difference as per actual turnover.
2. If the firm is new, an undertaking from the firm with expected turnover and assurance to submit GST return after completion of current financial year and deposit the difference as per actual turnover.
3. In case of corporate certificate of registration if the applicant has only one single GST return than the firm may be asked to submit certificate from Chartered Accountant mentioning the turnover of each outlet.

Testing of Jewellery/artefacts:

The registered jeweler submits the jewellery for hallmarking to BIS recognized Assaying & Hallmarking (A&H) centre. A&H centres are the testing centres where the jewellery is tested. After testing, the A&H centre applies hallmark on the jewellery which is found meeting the requirement of the standard.

The A&H centre can apply for recognition to BIS online. The recognition is granted to A&H centres for hallmarking of jewellery/artefacts after verifying the infrastructure requirements, capability and competency of personnel to carry out assaying & hallmarking. Entire process of recognition, which involves audit of the centres, submission of audit report, and grant of recognition or renewal, has been automated.

The list of list of registered jewellers and BIS recognised A&H centres is available on the BIS website www.bis.gov.in. ”

DISPLAY REQUIREMENTS IN SALES OUTLET:

On the outside of the sales outlet, the registered jeweller shall display the logo of BIS with the wording “Hallmarked Jewellery available for sale” as shown

Hallmarked Jewellery

Available for Sale

Fee for Grant and Renewal of Certificate of Registration:

Corporate registration

If a jeweller has five or more outlets anywhere in India, he can opt for the certificate of registration at corporate level covering various retail outlets in one certificate and claim a discount of 10% in registration fee for each outlet.

In case of certificate of registration at corporate level, separate application fee shall be payable for each outlet.

An application fee of Rs 2000/- is payable for every request made for inclusion or deletion of retail outlets