Gold hallmarking charges hiked ahead of festive, wedding season
BIS has raised the hallmarking fee on gold jewellery from September 14, 2026, which could push up jewellery prices during the festive and wedding season.
An important update has come for buyers of gold jewellery ahead of the festive and wedding season. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has made a major change to the hallmarking fee on gold jewellery. Sarafa traders will now have to pay more than before to get every piece of gold hallmarked, and this will have a direct impact on the price of jewellery.
The new rules come into effect from September 14, 2026. This means that if you are planning to buy gold this festive and wedding season, it is important to understand how much the increased hallmarking charge could affect your pocket.
Earlier, a charge of 45 rupees was levied for hallmarking on every gold ornament. This has now been increased to 75 rupees per ornament, an increase of 30 rupees per ornament. A minimum charge of 200 rupees has been fixed for each consignment. However, there has been no change in the hallmarking fee for silver jewellery, meaning the charge for silver items will remain 35 rupees, with a minimum charge of 150 rupees per consignment.
It is not necessary that customers will have to pay 30 rupees extra directly on every ornament after the hallmarking fee hike. This is because sarafa traders have to pay a hallmarking fee of 75 rupees to the recognised Assaying and Hallmarking Centre (AHC). Notably, these rules make no mention of charging customers an extra 75 rupees separately. However, traders may either bear this extra cost themselves or add it to the total price of the jewellery. So it would not be correct to say that the price of every ornament will necessarily go up by 30 rupees just because of the hallmarking fee hike.
The purpose of hallmarking is to guarantee to customers the purity of the precious metal used in gold and silver jewellery. So while buying gold and silver jewellery, do not rely only on the shopkeeper's word, always check the hallmark. Look for the BIS standard mark on the jewellery, check the gold purity or fineness number, and be sure to check the six-digit HUID number. The HUID helps in verifying hallmark information. According to BIS, gold jewellery is hallmarked in grades such as 14K (585), 18K (750), 20K (833), 22K (916), 23K (958) and 24K (995).
