Dhanteras will be here in less than a fortnight, and with it, there is increase in demand for gold bought to welcome Goddess lakshmi, the deity of wealth in Hinduism, and for its purity. While the buyers try their best to achieve the former objective, but are falling short of getting the latter, on account of lack of information.
Jewellery shop owners do not seem to help much either, with most failing to comply with the norms laid down by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The fact remains neglected that deviations from these regulations are punishable offenses.
The shop owners are supposed to put up certain documents in their shops alleviating any doubts about the purity of gold items. These documents include the licence issued by BIS, a grade chart clarifying the purity of gold with reference to numbers marked on an item and the list of five symbols establishing its purity.
Whith licensing jewellery shops, BIS has entered in an agreement with terms being that the traders will have to place these documents where they are easily visible to the customers on entering the shop, stated Suresh Vagadia, CEO of the lone Assayer in Jharkhand, Pratik Hallmarkers Pvt ltd.
But compliance with these regulations is hard to come by. With bigger establishments being the only exception, these documents remain absent from jewellery shops, completely or partially. When asked about the purity of the product, one is assured that it will have all the marks of purity, even if the sample doesn’t.
But the buyers are none the wiser either. “As in popular practice, buyers only rely on laser markings on a piece of jewellery when it comes to its purity. But there are other signs establishing the grade and fineness of the piece,” Vagadia said.
These signs, five in total, are – BIS logo, numbers conveying the fineness of the piece, the special alphabet issued by BIS for a particular year (‘T’ for 2015), jeweller’s logo and laser markings. Absence of any of these signs points towards substandard gold.
“In the last three years, BIS has intensified its awareness campaign regarding gold items, after bogus hallmarking centres were busted in Delhi. Apart from looking for the authenticating marks, one should also take a proper receipt for the purchase, or even the authorities will be helpless in cases of deception,” said Vagadia
These steps for awareness are crucial as the gold market is expected to expand in coming years, with comparatively lower prices this year and upcoming Gold Monetisation scheme, he added.