HUID and BIS hallmarking: what your jewellery software should do

What is a hallmark, and what is HUID?

A hallmark is the official certification of a precious metal’s purity. In India it is run by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS): the jeweller sends pieces to a BIS-recognised Assaying & Hallmarking Centre, which tests them and marks them.

A BIS hallmark has three marks: the BIS logo; the purity in carat and fineness — 22K916 means 22 carat, 916 parts gold in 1,000; and the HUID (Hallmark Unique Identification), a 6-character code of letters and digits given to that one piece. No two hallmarked pieces share a HUID.

Older hallmarks without a HUID are no longer enough: BIS says such pieces must be re-hallmarked with a HUID before they are sold.

Who has to sell hallmarked gold?

Mandatory hallmarking began in June 2021 and applies to jewellers in the districts BIS has notified. BIS adds districts in phases, so check its current list at bis.gov.in rather than relying on any number quoted elsewhere.

A jeweller selling there needs BIS registration. BIS lists exemptions — among them articles under two grams, jewellers with an annual turnover of up to ₹40 lakh, and goods made for export to a buyer’s specification; read the full list on the BIS site.

What must the bill show for hallmarked jewellery?

1. A description of each article.
2. The net weight of the precious metal.
3. Its purity in carat and fineness (for example 22K916).
4. The hallmarking charges.
5. The HUID — not required by BIS at present, but worth printing: the customer can check it in the BIS CARE app (Verify HUID) and it ties the bill to the piece.

What jewellery software should do with HUIDs

1. Keep the HUID (and the hallmark centre) on each piece, entered when the piece is bought or received from the maker — or imported from Excel.
2. Check it: six letters or digits, and never the same HUID on two pieces in your stock.
3. Print it on the sale bill beside the piece, with the purity and net weight.
4. Print it on the jewellery tag, and let the tag’s barcode or QR carry it.
5. Find a piece by its HUID — in search, on the scanner and in a stock count.
6. Keep it in the piece’s history after the sale, so a customer’s question months later can be answered.

A worked bill

A 22K916 gold ring, net weight 8.000 g, sold on a day when you set 22K at ₹7,000 a gram (example figures). Wastage 2% is 8.000 × 2% × ₹7,000 = ₹1,120; making at ₹500 a gram is ₹4,000; the hallmarking charge is ₹50 (an example — use your centre’s charge).

Metal ₹56,000 + wastage ₹1,120 + making ₹4,000 + hallmarking ₹50 = ₹61,170, before GST. The bill’s line names the ring, 22K916, NW 8.000 and its HUID, with that breakdown under it.

How Avirat handles hallmarked jewellery

Each piece in Avirat keeps its HUID and hallmark centre — on the jewellery purchase, Receive Jewellery, the stone panel and Excel import. Avirat accepts six letters or digits and refuses a HUID already on another piece you hold. The HUID prints on the bill beside the piece with its purity and gross and net weight, on the jewellery tag (its barcode or QR can encode it), and on a shared stone page; search, the scanner and stock counts find a piece by it.

On a sale, Price from metal rate starts from the day’s rate you entered under Jewellery → Metal Rates and works out metal, wastage, making, stones, hallmarking and other charges; the breakdown prints under the piece, with the hallmarking charge under its own name — so the bill shows the purity, the net weight, the hallmarking charges and the HUID.