KOCHI: The Central Government on Friday submitted before the Kerala High Court that jewellers having stocks of gold ornaments with the old four-digit hallmarking will be given three months to re-hallmark them with the new six-digit alphanumeric HUID (Hallmark Unique Identification).
As per the new order, the sale of hallmarked gold jewellery and gold artefacts with only the six-digit alphanumeric HUID number would be permitted from April 1.
The Centre submitted that the hallmarking at the first point of sale was implemented from July 1, 2021. As many as 43,153 jewellers are registered with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). However, when the BIS sought a declaration from these jewellers on their stocks, only 16,243 of them responded. It added that a stock declaration would be taken from the jewellers and they might be allowed to clear their old stocks or get them re-hallmarked.
The submission was in response to a petition filed by the All Kerala Gold and Silver Merchant Association seeking a directive to the Centre to allow the merchants to sell the old-hallmarked gold after April 1.
The petitioners argued that the order prohibiting the sale of gold ornaments without a six-digit HUID was arbitrary. The jewellers, most of them small-time owners, were facing problems due to the order. They would be prevented from doing business as they won’t be able to sell the existing stock.