Pramesh S Jain
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) conducted simultaneous search and seizure operations at two jewellery establishments in Bengaluru on Wednesday and seized gold ornaments weighing 1,618.17 grams, valued at approximately Rs.2.77 crore,for alleged violations of hallmarking regulations.
The raids were carried out by the BIS Bangalore Branch Office at outlets of Panchkesari Badera Jewellers in Jayanagar and Panchkesari Badera Jewellers in Chickpet as part of an enforcement drive against misuse of BIS standards and hallmarking norms.
According to officials,the operation at the Jayanagar outlet was supervised by Vinodini Kishore,Scientist-E and Director,while the Chickpet operation was led by P. Jayachandra Babu,Scientist-E and Director.
The enforcement team also included Vijay Kumar, Scientist-D and Joint Director,Manish Raj,Scientist-C and Deputy Director,and Piyush Kumar Gupta,Scientist-B and Assistant Director,along with other BIS officials.
During the inspection,officials allegedly found gold ornaments without mandatory Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) markings,which is a violation under the BIS Act, 2016.
BIS officials said legal proceedings are being initiated against the concerned establishments under the provisions of the BIS Act.
The bureau stated that it regularly conducts such enforcement operations based on credible inputs regarding misuse of BIS Standard Marks and hallmarking violations to safeguard consumer interests and curb deceptive trade practices.
Consumers have been advised to verify the authenticity of hallmarked gold jewellery using the BIS Care App.
For details,visit Bureau of Indian Standards.
