Lok Sabha Question No. 792 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-02-07
Subject: Hallmarking Certificate
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: APARUPA PODDAR

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

## Government of India Department of Consumer Affairs

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 792

TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.02.2017

## HALLMARKING CERTIFICATE

## 792. SHRIMATI APARUPA PODDAR:

## Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) the quantum and financial volume of gold jewellery exported by India in the last three years;
- (b) whether  any  complain  has  been  received  so  far  against  the  quality,  caratage,  or hallmarking  certificate  of  those  exported  jewellery  from  the  foreign  buyers  or  World Gold Council, if so, measures taken to resolve the issues;
- (c) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  the  faulty  hallmarking  system  of  gold,  still prevailing in the country, is helping dishonest jewellers to dupe several customers, if so, the steps taken by the Government to safeguard the interest of the consumers;
- (d) the measures taken so far to spread awareness about buying only hallmarked jewellery especially of gold and silver among common people in the last three years;
- (e) the number of incidents involving customers being cheated in terms of purity/ quality of gold/ornament they bought and the actions taken thereon; and
- (f) the  number  of  raids  conducted,  if  any,  in  the  last  three  years  in  Assaying  Centres, authorised recognized to issue hallmarking certificates and the outcome thereof?

## ANSWER

## miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k jkT; ea=h ¼Jh lh- vkj- pkS/kjh½

## THE MINISTER OF STATE CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

- (a)  : The  quantum  and  financial  volume  of  gold  jewellery  India  exported  in  the  last  three years are given in Annexure-I.
- (b) : The  Government  has  not  received  any  complaints  regarding  quality,  caratage  of hallmarking  certificate  of  those  exported  jewellery  from  the  foreign  buyers  or  World  Gold Council.
- (c) : To safeguard the interest of the consumer, in April 2000 the gold hallmarking scheme was  started  by  BIS.    The  gold  hallmarking  scheme  is  voluntary  in  nature  and  the  jewelers interested in selling hallmarked jewellery have to obtain licence from BIS. A licensee jeweler under the scheme has to get their jewellery hallmarked for purity from BIS recognized Assaying and Hallmarking (A&H) Centres.
- (d) : BIS  organizes  consumer  awareness  programs  and  jewellers  awareness  programme, wherein the details of Hallmarking Scheme are explained to the participants. The numbers of such programs conducted in the last three years and the current year, are given below:

| Year                  |   Number of consumer awareness programmes |   Number of jewellers awareness programmes |
|-----------------------|-------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| 2013-14               |                                       115 |                                         33 |
| 2014-15               |                                       292 |                                         40 |
| 2015-16               |                                       166 |                                         36 |
| 2016-17 Upto Dec 2016 |                                       132 |                                         30 |

Further, BIS to spread awareness amongst consumers regarding hallmarked jewellery/artefacts carries out advertisement through print, electronic and outdoor media.

- (e) : There  has  been  no  complaint  by  any  customer  regarding  cheating  by  BIS  licensed jeweller.  However,  in  two  of  the  complaints  relating  to  hallmarked  jewellery  by  licensed jeweller, one related to the product becoming unshaped, which was replaced by the jeweler. The other complaint was related to copper percentage in jewellery for which sample was drawn by BIS, tested and found to be conforming.
- (f) : Raids are not conducted on BIS recognized Assaying and Hallmarking (A&H) centres. However, surveillance audits are carried out on BIS recognized A& H centres to verify their satisfactory performance. The details of such surveillance audits are given at Annexure-II .

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## STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.792 FOR 07.02.2017 REGARDING HALLMARKING CERTIFICATE.

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## QUANTITY IS IN KGS AND VALUE IS IN USD (Export)

|          |                                                                                  | 2013-14   | 2013-14    | 2014-15   | 2014-15     | 2015-16   | 2015-16    |
|----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------|------------|-----------|-------------|-----------|------------|
| ITCHS    | Description                                                                      | Quantity  | Value      | Quantity  | Value       | Quantity  | Value      |
| 71131910 | Jewellery of Gold unset                                                          | 107726    | 4605045762 | 140197    | 5817873121  | 97753     | 3655695565 |
| 71131920 | Jewellery of Gold set with pearls                                                | 3593      | 489863181  | 1080      | 95618890    | 1310      | 55752586   |
| 71131930 | Jewellery of Gold set with Diamond                                               | 54197     | 4129419242 | 44279     | 3811668488  | 44424     | 3539022055 |
| 71131940 | Jewellery of Gold set with precious and semi-precious stones other than diamonds | 8897      | 390828267  | 12355     | 537297946   | 18414     | 579376755  |
| Total    | Total                                                                            | 174413    | 9615156452 | 197911    | 10262458445 | 161901    | 7829846961 |

ANNEXURE-II

STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (f) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.792 FOR 07.02.2017 REGARDING HALLMARKING CERTIFICATE.

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## Details  of  surveillance  audits  on  Assaying  and  Hallmarking  (A  &  H)  centre  carried  out  during  the  last three years and the current year.

| Year                              |   No of Surveillance auditofA&H Centres |   No Of A &Hcentre de- Recognized |
|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| 2013-2014                         |                                     128 |                                13 |
| 2014-2015                         |                                     159 |                                 7 |
| 2015-2016                         |                                     233 |                                24 |
| 2016-2017 ( up to 25 th Dec 2016) |                                      73 |                                65 |

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