The Hindu Business Line : Sure about the quality of gold you buy?

People buy gold jewellery based on their buying capacity. They consider it as a good investment option due to its liquidity. Generally, people buy jewellery from trusted jewellers only. But it is shocking to know that the consumers are not able to buy ornaments worth their money as they fail to meet the specifications prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). In the given situation, how can one be sure about the value of money they get when they try to sell their jewels?

Hence, to protect the interests of the consumers, the Directorate-General of Investigation and Registration (DGIR) and the BIS should insist on all jewellers to sell only hallmarked jewelleries.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs must take up the issue with the jewellers association and ensure that they sell only hallmarked items. Some of the high-end jewellery shops are having the purity testing machine in their outlets to convince the consumers about the purity of the gold jewelleries they are buying or selling. As these machines are exorbitantly priced, most of the small shops cannot afford to install these machines.

Therefore, the jewellers association can install the machine at a prominent place where the customers can come and make use of the facility at a nominal cost. Stringent action must be taken against the jewellers who are found to be selling sub-standard gold ornaments.

S. Nallasivan, Tamil Nadu.

The purity of gold ornaments are always suspected in majority of the shops. Despite being aware of the trade practices, with no alternative in sight, the public are forced to go to leading jewellers. The common man may really find it difficult to evaluate various fancy offers made by the jewellers.

BIS has been making consistent efforts in instilling confidence among the customers through consumer awareness programmes. The laws pertaining to the gold trade should be tightened as most of the transactions take place on cash basis with no bills, which makes quality related issues difficult to deal with. Government’s efforts in streamlining the trade will definitely bear fruit as India happens to be the largest gold consumer.

Krithivasan, e-mail

With the recent report claiming that out of 162 samples collected nationwide, as many as 146 have fallen short of purity standards, how can one be sure about the quality of gold that he or she had brought.

As the purity of the gold is a technical phenomenon, it cannot be easily verified by a common man and they go by what the jeweller says. In India, consumers rely on their favourite jeweller to be assured of the quality and if they are cheated by their trusted jeweller itself the consumers may feel let down. Moreover, in India household purchases account for just about 30 per cent and the remaining is used for industrial purposes.

While the industrial consumers are aware of the quality of gold they buy, the common man is not. The lower purity standard also adds to the profit margin of jewellers. At this point of time, more information will be needed on the gold coins sold by the banks. K.V. Rao, Bangalore

There are two ways to buy gold in India. One, they can buy in new shops, provided it comes with a BIS Hallmarked Certification. Two, it is better to buy gold from those shops, who are in the business for many decades. These shops enjoy tremendous goodwill and relationship with the customers.

Godavarthi Devarajakishore, e-mail

I am sure about the quality of gold that can fetch at least 85 to 87 per cent of the value back any date after its purchase. I have been buying jewellery from a reputed shop for the last 15 years and I never felt that I have been duped.

R. Swaminathan, Tiruchi

More Stories on : Gold & Silver | Standards & Benchmarks | Sticklish Issues

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