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Bengal

Jewellers go on strike to protest Centre's gold hallmarking rules

kolkata: Jewellery shops across the city remained shut on Monday to protest against the new gold hallmarking rules of the Centre.

"The entire Gems and Jewellery industry has called a nationwide strike on August 23. The reason is to protest against the government's arbitrary implementation of mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery with HUID (Hallmark Unique Identification Number)," said Bablu De, a protestor.

He reiterated that mandatory gold hallmarking, a purity certification of the precious metal, has come into force from June 16 in a phased manner.

The government has identified 256 districts from 28 states and union territories for the phase-1 implementation.

Fines will be imposed on jewellers selling non-certified products from September.

The Jewellery shop owners have to register themselves on Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)'s official website.

This apart, they will have to give details of buyers and sellers.

The Jewellery shop owners will have to obtain a HUID, a 6-digit code, for every piece of hallmarked gold article they sell.

"We are not against hallmarking. Buying gold is a culture in India. But it is illogical asking all customers to give your phone number, valid id, etc. We have also been asked to upload our product design," De said. "It is hampering our business secrets and privacy," pointed out De.

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