Hallmark Unique Identification(HUID) number

In news– The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has said that from April 1, the sale of gold jewellery will not be allowed without a HUID number.

What is a HUID number?

HUID number is a six-digit alphanumeric code. It is given to every piece of jewellery at the time of hallmarking, and is a unique identifier for each gold item.

The jewellery is stamped with the unique number manually at the Assaying & Hallmarking centre.
Earlier, the HUID used to be of four digits. As of now both HUIDs (4- and 6-digit) are used in the market.
The HUID makes it easy to trace the individual piece of jewellery, and is a guarantee of quality.
In HUID-based Hallmarking, registration of jewellers is automatic with no human interference. It is aimed at ensuring the purity of Hallmarked jewellery and check any malpractice.
HUID is a secure system and poses no risk to data privacy or security. HUID-based Hallmarking is a win-win for everyone.

What is hallmarking?

Hallmark is a mark on gold jewellery which is affixed by an entity recognised by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to assure its fineness and purity.
A BIS Hallmark consists of three symbols — the BIS logo, a symbol to indicate the purity and fineness of the jewellery, and then the HUID.
No gold jewelry is made of 100 per cent gold, as the yellow metal in itself is very soft and has to be mixed with other metals to shape it into jewelry items.
The “purer” the jewellery, i.e., the more gold a piece of jewellery has, the more expensive it will be.
The three categories of hallmarked jewellery are:
1. 22K916 means that it is a 22 carat gold and the piece of jewellery has 91.6 percent gold.
2. 18K750 means that it is an 18 carat gold and the piece of jewellery has 75 percent gold.
3. 14K585 means that it is a 14 carat gold and the piece of jewellery has 58.5 percent gold.
One may check the purity of gold jewellery at any BIS-recognized Assaying and Hallmarking Centre. For this one will have to pay a fee of Rs 200.
However, a consumer cannot apply to the Assaying and Hallmarking Centre for getting a hallmark on her gold jewellery. This has to be done through a BIS-registered jeweler.