Gold hallmarking to get ‘sold’ tag to protect buyers
The government is working on a plan to mark hallmarked gold jewellery as ‘sold’ against its Hallmark Unique Identification number after purchase, making it harder to resell stolen items or reuse identification codes.
The Indian government is developing a system to prevent the sale of stolen gold jewellery by using a unique six-digit code called Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) for each piece. After the sale, jewellers would tag the jewellery as 'sold' against its HUID number, making it challenging for them to reuse the same HUID on other pieces.
This mechanism would flag any attempts to resell the same HUID, ensuring the authenticity of the jewellery. The initiative aims to combat high rates of gold jewellery snatching and theft, which is prevalent in the world's largest gold jewellery market. The system is currently under discussion, with plans to initially implement it in urban areas for organised retailers, eventually expanding to rural areas and the unorganised sector.
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