Illegal BIS hallmark centre sealed in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: A jewellery shop has been sealed by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) officials for misuse of BIS hallmark on gold and silver jewellery at Miryalguda in Nalgonda district. This is the first time BIS officials sealed a jewellery shop after the Union government made hallmarking of gold jewellery mandatory from June 16, 2021.

On a tip off, the BIS officials conducted a raid on the jewellery shop at Mirylaguda on Monday and found the store owner was using the BIS hallmark on gold and silver jewellery without obtaining approval. “We have noticed that the shopkeeper was using a laser marking machine for using spurious BIS hallmark,” BIS, Hyderabad, head, and scientist-E KV Rao said in an official release issued here on Tuesday.

Based on the evidence, action was being initiated against the offender under Section 29 of the BIS Act If convicted, the offender might be imprisoned up to two years or pay a fine of not less than Rs two lakh, it said. “In fact, BIS is the designated authority to implement hallmarking of gold jewellery to check purity, and BIS certified and granted licences to 35 assaying & hallmarking centres in Telangana and 48 centres in Andhra Pradesh,” Rao told TOI.

“Consumers can check for certified jewellers using BIS Care (mobile app) or portal: http://www.bis.gov.in,” he appealed. The BIS official also said that consumers could register complaints, if they notice misuse of BIS hallmark, on mail: hhybo@bis.gov.in and the source of information would be kept confidential.

Courtesy: Times of India