
India plans tighter gold tagging rules to curb hallmarking misuse
on Tuesday to the Department of Consumer Affairs and some of the leading jewellery retailers, such as Tanishq, remained unanswered till press time.Tightening the framework will strengthen consumer trust, bring greater transparency and accountability in the hallmarking system, and ensure declared purity matches the product sold, said Ashim Sanyal, chief executive officer, Consumer Voice, a consumer rights’ advocacy organization.In October 2025, the Department of Consumer Affairs, through its quality standards arm BIS, launched a pilot project in 25 districts to digitally capture jewellery details. BIS recorded the photograph and weight of each hallmarked jewellery item on its portal using integrated cameras and weighing systems, reducing manual errors and improving transparency.“The pilot was a huge success, and based on its outcome, a stricter framework is now being planned for rollout across the country,” the second person said.Hallmarking was introduced in 2000 and made mandatory in phases from 2021, now covering about 400 districts.
Since then, more than 580 million gold items have been hallmarked, averaging over 10 million a month, according to consumer affairs ministry data.Consumers currently verify jewellery authenticity by entering the HUID on the BIS Care app, which displays details such as jeweller registration, purity level and hallmarking centre.Catch all the Industry News, Banking News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
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