Editor’s Note
India has launched voluntary hallmarking for silver jewelry and articles, effective September 1, introducing a digital HUID system to verify metal purity. The Bureau of Indian Standards’ revised IS 2112:2025 replaces the 2014 standard, enhancing consumer protection.
New Delhi: Voluntary hallmarking for silver jewelry and other articles began on September 1, the government announced on Thursday. This will implement a digital identification system to ensure metal purity for consumers. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has revised its hallmarking standard with the publication of IS 2112:2025, which will replace the earlier version IS 2112:2014.
With this revision, Hallmarking Unique Identification (HUID)-based hallmarking has been introduced for silver jewelry and other articles. This enhances traceability and aligns with the existing gold hallmarking system. According to an official statement, under the new system, consumers can identify the type, purity grade, hallmarking date, testing center details, and jeweler registration number of silver jewelry hallmarked after September 1, 2025, using the BIS Care mobile application.
The revised standard includes seven purity grades: 800, 835, 925, 958, 970, 990, and 999. Among these, grades 958 and 999 are newly added. The hallmark consists of three components: the BIS standard mark with the word ‘Silver’, the purity grade, and the HUID code. Currently, there are approximately 230 quality testing and hallmarking centers in 87 districts across the country, recognized by BIS for testing silver jewelry.
In fiscal year 2024-25, over 3.2 million silver jewelry items were hallmarked. The previous IS 2112:2014 standard allowed hallmarking in six purity grades: 800, 835, 900, 925, 970, and 990. It included a four-component hallmark system comprising the BIS mark, purity grade, testing center identification, and jeweler identification mark.
BIS held a consultation meeting with stakeholders on August 7, 2025, attended by representatives from jewelers, testing centers, and consumers, totaling 80 participants. The standards bureau is running awareness campaigns through branch offices and social media platforms. This initiative aims to strengthen consumer rights and prevent fraud in the silver jewelry market.