New Delhi, Sep 4 : The government on Thursday announced that it has introduced voluntary hallmarking for silver jewellery and articles from September 1.

The new system uses a digital identification process to ensure that consumers get genuine and pure silver products.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has revised its hallmarking rules by publishing IS 2112:2025, which replaces the earlier IS 2112:2014 version.

The updated rules provide for hallmarking unique identification (HUID) for silver jewellery, just like gold. With this, every silver item will carry a unique code that can be checked digitally.

Through the BIS Care mobile app, buyers can now verify details such as the type of article, purity grade, hallmarking date, testing centre, and jeweller's registration number.

This move is expected to bring more transparency and reduce fraud in the silver market.

The revised standards now have seven purity grades -- 800, 835, 925, 958, 970, 990 and 999. Out of these, 958 and 999 have been added for the first time.

The hallmark will include three parts: the BIS Standard Mark with the word "SILVER," the purity grade, and the HUID code.

At present, there are about 230 BIS-recognised assaying and hallmarking centres for silver across 87 districts in India.

In 2024-25, over 32 lakh silver articles were hallmarked under the older standard, which had six purity grades and a four-part hallmark system.

BIS officials said the changes were finalised after consultations with jewellers, testing centres, and consumers held on August 7.

The bureau has also started awareness campaigns through its branch offices and social media to inform people about the new system.

The government hopes that digital hallmarking will protect consumer rights and make silver jewellery purchases safer and more reliable.

/IANS