JAMMU, September 19, 2026 – The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Jammu and Kashmir Branch Office, has seized 1,095 gold-coloured jewellery articles from a local retail outlet in Jammu following allegations of suspected misuse of the BIS Hallmark and Standard Mark. The enforcement action was initiated after authorities discovered that the seized articles carried tags bearing a triangular mark closely resembling the official BIS Hallmark, potentially misleading buyers. According to BIS officials, the outlet’s representatives defended the inventory by describing the seized items as “coated jewellery,” “imitation jewellery,” or “1-gram gold plated jewellery.” However, the Bureau explicitly clarified that such articles do not fall under the category of gold alloy jewellery or artefacts covered by the legitimate BIS Hallmarking Scheme. The authorities emphasized that applying the Hallmark or Standard Mark on tags attached to imitation or coated jewellery constitutes a serious offence under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016, as it creates a deceptive impression that the items are officially BIS-hallmarked or certified.
The vast quantity of misleading jewellery, along with corroborating documentary evidence, was officially confiscated under Section 28 of the BIS Act, 2016. The Bureau has assured that further stringent legal action will be pursued against the offenders in accordance with the applicable provisions, rules, and regulations of the Act. Issuing a strong advisory in the wake of the raid, the BIS urged consumers not to blindly trust a BIS logo or Hallmark printed merely on a tag, label, or packaging as definitive proof of purity. For genuine hallmarked gold jewellery, buyers are advised to physically verify that the prescribed hallmark is engraved on the jewellery article itself and to authenticate the mandatory six-digit HUID code using the “Verify HUID” feature on the official BIS CARE App. Furthermore, the Bureau has appealed to both vigilant consumers and honest jewellers to actively report any suspected misuse of the BIS Hallmark through the app, via official emails, or by directly contacting the BIS Branch Office at the SIDCO Industrial Complex in Bari Brahmana, assuring that the identities of all informants will be kept strictly confidential.
Published by True Roots Media Network