BIS makes hallmarking of 9 karat gold mandatory

New Delhi: The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) on Friday announced that it will also be mandatory to hallmark 9 karat gold with effect from July 2025.

Hallmarking is governed by the BIS Act, 2016, and it certifies the proportionate content of precious metal in jewellery and artefacts so that consumers can know of the purity before they buy an item.

The list of gold categories in the list of mandatory hallmarking grades now includes 9K along with the earlier categories of 14KT, 18KT, 20KT, 22KT, 23KT, and 24KT gold,

Jewellers and hallmarking centres are required to comply with this addition of 9 karat gold to the mandatory hallmarking list under the BIS regulations, the All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council said in a post on X.

“Nine Karat Gold (375 ppt) is now officially under mandatory hallmarking as per BIS Amendment No. 2 All jewellers and hallmarking centres must comply,” the council stated.

The decision to make hallmarking mandatory for 9-karat gold jewelry is driven by the growing preference for more affordable gold jewellery, especially among younger consumers, and also aims to curb rising chain-snatching incidents by making gold items more traceable.

More consumers are also turning to 9K-karat gold as higher grades have become very expensive. It is also easier to design for jewellery items.

Over 40 crore gold jewellery items have been hallmarked with a unique HUID, ensuring greater trust and transparency for the consumers in the market.

The Bureau of Indian Standards began the fourth phase of mandatory hallmarking under the Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery and Gold Artefacts Amendment Order, 2024 from November 5, 2024.

Additionally, during the fourth phase, 18 additional districts where hallmarking centres have been set up under Mandatory Hallmarking. Following the implementation of the fourth stage, the total number of districts covered under Mandatory Hallmarking now stands at 361.

BIS earlier implemented the first phase of mandatory hallmarking, which was launched on June 23, 2021. This phase covered 256 districts whereas the second phase commenced from April 4, 2022 where 32 districts were further added.

This was followed by the third phase which was implemented from 6th September, 2023 and covered 55 newly added districts.

IANS