CaratIndia raises gold hallmarking fee to Rs 75 an article
The gazette notification of 14 September also sets a Rs 200 minimum per consignment and leaves silver at Rs 35. Indian outlets put the previous gold rate at Rs 45.
The fee schedule changed. India's Bureau of Indian Standards replaced Schedule IV of its 2018 hallmarking regulations on 14 September. Jewellers now pay Rs 75 an article for gold, with a Rs 200 minimum per consignment.
If you hallmark in India: budget Rs 75 an article for gold and Rs 200 a consignment.
If you hallmark silver: nothing moved. The schedule leaves silver at Rs 35 an article.
What this is not: a consumer levy. The fee is charged to jewellers by the centres.
| Who pays whom | Metal | Per article | Minimum per consignment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeweller to hallmarking centre | Gold | Rs 75 | Rs 200 |
| Hallmarking centre to the Bureau | Gold | Rs 7.50 | Rs 20 |
| Jeweller to hallmarking centre | Silver | Rs 35 | Rs 150 |
| Hallmarking centre to the Bureau | Silver | Rs 3.50 | Rs 15 |
IGold moves, silver stays
Seventy-five an article. Jewellers pay recognised assaying and hallmarking centres Rs 75 for each gold article, with a minimum of Rs 200 a consignment.
Silver is untouched. The same schedule keeps silver at Rs 35 an article and Rs 150 a consignment.
IIThe centres pay too
A second tier. Hallmarking centres pay the Bureau Rs 7.50 for each gold article and Rs 3.50 for each silver one.
Tax sits on top. The notification adds that applicable taxes are levied at prevailing rates, over and above these fees.
IIIIt bites before the season
In force at once. The regulations come into force on the date of publication in the Official Gazette, dated 14 September.
Old rate unstated. The notification does not print the previous gold fee. Indian outlets put it at Rs 45, a rise of 66.7%.
01What would change this call+
A gazetted record of the previous rate. Until one is read, the 66.7% rise is the Indian press's arithmetic checked by this desk, not a figure the notification itself supports.
02Who actually pays a hallmarking fee+
India's hallmarking system has three parties and two separate fees, which is why a single headline number misleads. A jeweller sends articles to a recognised Assaying and Hallmarking Centre, an independent private facility licensed by the Bureau of Indian Standards, and pays that centre per article with a floor per consignment. The centre in turn pays the Bureau a much smaller per-article charge for the licence to mark. Neither fee is levied on a consumer, and neither appears on a retail bill as a line item. Whether any of it reaches the customer depends on whether a jeweller absorbs it in making charges, which is a commercial decision the notification does not touch.
03Method · the desk’s arithmetic+
The gazette PDF was downloaded and read directly, in both its Hindi and English texts, rather than taken from press reports: the English Schedule IV reads Rs 75 per article and a Rs 200 minimum for gold paid by jewellers, Rs 7.50 and Rs 20 paid by centres to the Bureau, Rs 35 and Rs 150 for silver paid by jewellers, and Rs 3.50 and Rs 15 paid by centres. The notification carries no previous rate and no percentage, so the Rs 45 comparison and the 66.7% are attributed to the Indian press and the division is shown rather than carried: (75 − 45)/45 = 0.667. The commencement clause is quoted as written, in force on the date of publication in the Official Gazette, which the notification dates 14 September 2026. Archive test, both periods named: zero hits for hallmarking fee across the 382-article archive. Twenty-five hits for hallmark, all read, and every one concerns either the district rollout of mandatory hallmarking, most recently 392 districts on 31 August 2026, or silver testing capacity. Same regulator, different subject and different period, so NEW.
392 districts, 26 of 36 states: where India's hallmark law now reaches
How far the mandatory hallmark now reaches, which is how many jewellers this fee actually catches.
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