Jammu: The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) on Friday seized 1,095 articles of coated, imitation and “1 Gram Gold Plated Jewellery” here after detecting the BIS Hallmark and Standard Mark on tags attached to the items, an official said.
The seizure was made during a raid conducted at a jewellery outlet here, Joint Director, BIS, Jammu and Kashmir, V Avinash Babu, said.
According to the representative of the outlet, the seized articles were coated jewellery, imitation jewellery or “1 Gram Gold Plated Jewellery”, and were not gold alloy jewellery or articles covered under the BIS Hallmarking Scheme.
The articles were found with attached tags carrying a triangular mark resembling or purporting to be the BIS Hallmark or Standard Mark, he said.
The official said the jewellery articles, along with relevant documentary evidence, were seized under Section 28 of the BIS Act, 2016.
Babu said further action would be taken in accordance with the applicable provisions of the BIS Act, Rules and Regulations.
“The use of the BIS Hallmark/Standard Mark on tags attached to articles represented as coated or imitation jewellery constitutes an offence under the BIS Act, 2016, as it may create a misleading impression that such articles are BIS hallmarked or certified,” he said.
He advised consumers to exercise caution while purchasing gold jewellery and not to treat a BIS logo or Hallmark/ Standard Mark appearing only on a tag, label or packaging as proof that the jewellery article itself is BIS hallmarked.
In the case of hallmarked gold jewellery, the prescribed hallmark is required to be present on the jewellery article itself, he said, adding that consumers can also verify the six-digit Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) through the “Verify HUID” feature available on the BIS CARE App.
The BIS has appealed to consumers and jewellers to report suspected misuse of the BIS Hallmark/ Standard Mark to the office. (With PTI Inputs)
