Gold Hallmarking Fee Jumps 67% as Festive Demand Builds

India's jewellers are absorbing a steeper compliance bill this festive season after the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) raised the gold hallmarking fee to ₹75 per article from ₹45 on 14 September — a 67% increase.

The revision lands as record gold prices push buyers towards lighter, lower-carat and studded pieces, and towards exchanges. Because the hallmarking charge is levied per article rather than by weight, it weighs more heavily on small earrings, rings and pendants than on heavier ornaments.

Amit Modak, chief executive and director of Reva Diamonds by P.N. Gadgil & Sons Ltd, said the extra ₹30 per piece is modest on its own but adds up quickly for organised retailers processing large volumes. He suggested a lower fee slab for articles below a certain weight, with the threshold to be settled through consultation among BIS, industry and other stakeholders.

Not all retailers expect a significant hit. Supriya Kataria, founder of Mumbai-based Kumari Fine Jewellery, said the company will pass on the notified fee at actuals without adding a margin, describing hallmarking as a statutory consumer-protection charge that assures purity and HUID traceability. Bulk consignments, she said, help keep the effective per-piece cost in check.

Darshan Chauhan, chief growth officer and executive director of Sky Gold & Diamonds, said the revised fee flows through the company's existing billing arrangement with retail partners and will not materially alter its operating cost structure. Even on jewellery priced at ₹5,000–10,000, the additional ₹30 is a small share of the purchase value, he said.

Industry representatives, however, point to friction at the counter. Rajesh Rokde of the All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council said customers often resist paying the charge, arguing it is trivial next to the size of their purchase. He noted that buyers are already contending with expensive gold, making charges and GST before hallmarking is added.

Rokde said the industry was not adequately consulted before the increase and called for a review, adding that the earlier ₹45 rate was itself on the higher side. He also flagged uneven implementation of mandatory hallmarking across districts, which he said can confuse customers, and warned that higher compliance costs could sharpen the incentive for fake hallmarking.

According to the latest BIS notification, gold hallmarking is compulsory in 392 districts and is being rolled out in phases across more than 800 districts. Assaying and Hallmarking Centres — independent third-party laboratories recognised by BIS to test purity and apply hallmarks — remain concentrated in major cities, limiting access for smaller regional jewellers, one Mumbai-based laboratory said, adding that the sector is awaiting clarity on the new rules.

The fee revision comes against a softening demand backdrop. Gold jewellery demand fell 15% year-on-year to 75 tonnes in the June quarter, though it recovered 14% sequentially from a weak first quarter. The World Gold Council attributed the mid-May to mid-June slump to the inauspicious period, a 9% import duty hike and the Prime Minister's appeal to curb gold purchases.

Crisil has projected that gold jewellery retail volumes in India will decline 13–15% year-on-year to 620–640 tonnes this fiscal, a level unseen in a decade. With 24-carat gold quoted at ₹1,57,860 per 10 grams on Friday — up nearly 17% since 1 January — the shift towards lighter pieces looks set to continue, making the flat hallmarking fee a more visible line item for both jewellers and their customers.

Queries emailed to BIS remained unanswered.