BIS plans compulsory quality certificates for jewellers in metros

The Bureau of Indian Standard BIS, the National Standards Body of India plans to introduced a new rule by which jewellery retailers in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai - the Indian metros are required to issue card-like certificates to jewellery buyers, reports say. These cards will come into effect from January 1, 2014. They will be issued by BIS and will contain information about gold content, purity of gold, type and of other metals and stones, if any and a photograph of the jewellery piece, reports suggest. The certification will be required over and above the ongoing mandatory jewellery hallmarking in metros. The new certification is expected to encourage transparency.

But there are some industry voices which feel the law should be implemented pan-Indian rather than restricted to metros, which may encourage the jewellers to shift to non-metro cities. Also, consumers will bear the cost of this additional certification, and may face difficulty selling legitimate jewellery in metros bought elsewhere without certificates, reports suggest.