Mahendra Jewellers initiates voluntary HUID, sets example of progressive retailing

The government and the BIS have, for now, yielded to the mounting concerns and apparent impossibility of HUID in retail. Mandatory application of this technology is limited to hallmarking centers. However, Mahendra Jewellers of Kolhapur, Maharashtra is taking the opportunity to add another layer of transparency for its clientele with voluntary HUID of its collections since July 2.

“We have always welcomed transparency. We were the first jeweller in Western Maharashtra to start selling hallmarked items in 2003,” said Mehul Oswal, Director, Mahendra Jewellers. The brand’s effort towards transparency has been one of the strongest, given it had earned the honour of the first brand hallmarking silver jewellery in India in 2007 and was felicitated by the then Union agricultural minister Sharad Pawar. Hallmark Unique Identification Number is thus a great move for the brand, believes Oswal.

Explaining why retailers should use this chance to create differentiation, Oswal said that hiccups in processes are bound to come whenever the government enacts a law that compels the industry to shift gears. Being part of several industry associations, he urged other retailers to put the necessary additional effort to implement HUID as soon as situation permits.

“The government has conceded this time. That doesn’t mean that it will not make it compulsory in, say, two years from now. Retailers may be asked to show tax invoices showing the same. So I believe that HUID is a necessary move for retail organisation and one must adopt it at the earliest,” he said.

Retailers are indeed struggling to identify each piece, but the associations should figure a way out and encourage solutions, feels the retailer. The best way is to hire a team for this routine exercise, believes Oswal. On the process front, he stated that the brand has followed the clauses for HUID and is re-hallmarking each hitherto non-hallmarked item of gold that is part of a jewellery piece, for instance, three-part kadhas, bangles and earrings.

Realizing that the industry is to advance on the path of organisation only, MahendraJewellers has notified its wholesalers and manufacturers to only send inventory hallmarked from the point of sale, going forward. “The government has given a lot of relaxation in HUID for meenakari, uncut and polki diamond jewellery. So, the government is supporting the entire jewellery sector. Thus, jewellers should also put in the extra effort,” concluded Oswal.

Written by Shubham Dasgupta

RJ exclusive