Recent surveys conducted by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) jointly with Central Consumer Protection Council in 5 major cities reveal that more than 80 per cent of the jewellery being sold in the market was of lower purity than claimed and charged for. In some cases, the gold articles sold were 38.6 per cent short in purity in monetary terms.
The low purity results in a loss of around 16 per cent to gold jewellery. In the recent past, RBI has been actively pursuing the issue of upgrading the quality of trade and products through a system of assaying and hallmarking with Government of India and BIS.