Guaranteed Purity for Silver: The government has been looking to make silver hallmarking mandatory for quite some time now. Pralhad Joshi, the Minister of Consumer Affairs, has urged the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to consider implementing mandatory hallmarking for silver and silver artifacts. He mentioned that consumers have been asking for this for a long time.
Mandatory hallmarking for gold was introduced in June 2021. Before that, buying pure gold was quite challenging, and customers often ended up with fake gold sold under the guise of purity. Now, a similar issue is arising with silver purchases.
Recently, silver prices have surged dramatically, even crossing one lakh per kilogram. This spike has led to an increase in cases of counterfeit silver being sold. To combat this, the government is preparing to make silver hallmarking compulsory. Minister Pralhad Joshi emphasized that the BIS should take consumer demands into account and consider making hallmarking mandatory for silver and silver items. During the 78th BIS Foundation Day celebration, he stated, “There is a demand from consumers for silver hallmarking. The BIS should discuss this and make an appropriate decision.” The government believes that making silver hallmarking mandatory will reduce fraud in silver sales.
Currently, hallmarking is only mandatory for gold jewelry and artifacts, which are categorized by their purity levels of 24, 22, 18, and 14 carats, with 24 carat gold being the purest. The purpose of hallmarking is to protect consumer interests and ensure the authenticity of products. The existing hallmarking system includes a unique six-digit alphanumeric code (HUID) that certifies the purity of gold. While the government has been keen on making silver hallmarking mandatory, there’s a challenge: silver doesn’t have carats like gold does, making hallmarking more complicated. This is why the BIS hasn’t taken any concrete steps regarding silver hallmarking yet. However, following the government’s recent stance, the BIS may start considering all aspects related to silver hallmarking.
