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Chennaites be careful while buying gold on Akshaya Tritiya Day
Posted on: 15/Apr/2015 12:29:57 PM
Consumer Association of India has warned the public to be wary of the gold they buy on Akshaya Tritiya Day. The association has stated that large amount of gold jewellery which are sold as pure gold, with only permitted level of impurities, are in fact non-hallmarked products containing merely 60% of gold.
Chairman and Managing Trustee Nirmala Desikan of the association said, "916 gold which is largely used for commercial purposes cannot be permitted to contain less than 91.6% of gold. The rest, 8.4%, is copper that is added for malleability. But, almost no gold ornament that we have examined has this required percentage. They are always lower.”
In view of the foregoing Consumer Association of India advice customers to ensure they only buy jewellery that is hallmarked and sealed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
The hallmark seal ensures the gold ornament is of 22 carat purity [24 carat, or 100% pure gold, is unsuitable for jewellery because it is malleable, so jewelers usually harden it by adding silver or copper]. BIS officials conduct surprise checks on hallmark centres three to four times a year and also inspect market samples. If they find a piece of gold jewellery is not of the purity claimed, they can revoke the licence of the hallmarking centre.
But all this is of limited consequence, because the hallmark seal is not mandatory. This allows unscrupulous traders to pass off gold of low purity as being of 22 carat purity and limited consumer awareness adds to the problem.
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