Hallmarking centre issues wrong certificates, told to 145;stop marking146;

The Surat-based Indian Diamond Institute IDI, the Bureau of Indian Standards8217; premier authorised hallmarking centre in the western region, has been issued a 8220;stop marking8221; notice by the BIS after being found issuing wrong hallmarking certificates for gold jewellery. The matter was brought to the notice of the BIS authorities by a local jeweller, who had sent his gold articles for hallmarking to the IDI. The institute had reportedly marked certain pieces of jewellery 8220;18 carat8221; when they were actually 8220;22 carat8221;. After the samples were tested by BIS8217;s own laboratory, the anomaly was brought to light and a 8220;stop marking8221; notice was rushed to IDI. Speaking to The Indian Express, a BIS official in charge of the hallmarking division who requested anonymity said, 8220;It seems to be a problem with their marker. As far as my understanding goes, the assayer had marked the jewellery items correctly. However, the laser equipment used during the marking process led to the mistake.8221;

IDI deputy director Sameer Joshi confirmed that the institute had received a 8220;stop marking8221; notice from the BIS. 8220;There seems to have been a mix-up. We have approached the BIS regarding this and are awaiting their next course of action on this,8221; said Joshi.

BIS8217;s nodal officer for hallmarking in the western region, S L Palkar said, 8220;We will now have to send our own auditors and check their equipment and process, check for the corrective action taken by the centre. We had introduced one more step in reverification of the process. After that, we will reconsider whether to give them a go-ahead to restart the hallmarking process. To us, it seems like a problem of oversight but the 8220;stop marking8221; notice has been issued as penal action.8221; IDI is also reported to be making some internal changes in human resources and process management. An auditor from BIS8217;s Ahmedabad office will visit the IDI premises and check the corrective action taken. The process will take between a week and a month.