Sales of gold without the hallmark are also rampant
Customers throng a jewellery store in Thiruvananthapuram.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘All that glitters is not gold’ turns out to be literally true in the case of those purchasing gold without due diligence. With extensive 'corporatisation' of the jewellery sector in Kerala, the consumers now purchase gold based on the sheen of advertisements and glib talk of salespeople. In recent raids conducted by Legal Metrology Department (LMD), around 85 jewellery shops including bigwigs were held guilty of malpractices such as using wrongly calibrated weighing machines and manipulating the weight of ornaments using stone.
Sales of gold without the hallmark are also rampant. If one is to ask a question which shop will be the ideal place to purchase gold, experts say that there is no jeweller who can be completely trusted though there are a few who are more dependable than others.
Purity issues
“Few years back I had bought a golden bracelet from Neyyattinkara and since it got slightly damaged I took it to a local jeweller in Chalai market. He said that the gold has now no value without hallmark, so he stamped a new hallmark and gave it,” says Sajeev.
He says many people stamp fake hallmarks that are seen as the symbol of purity. “Similarly, the gold I purchased from one jewellery shop does not fetch the same price if I sell it to another jeweller. This is not a mere attempt to monopolise the sales and purchases. It simply tells us that there is severe disparity in the purity of gold sold in different jewellery shops,” he added.
The Abharana Thozhilali Union Thiruvananthapuram district secretary Shankar agrees and says that the purity analysers installed in these shops are of no use. “When you keep the ornament on the analyser, it analyses only the part that touches the machine. If you take the case of an intricate necklace, the purity will be less on the petals than the part which touches the analyser. Apart from this is the manipulation of the machines,” says Shankar.
No standardisation in cost
With the number of traditional jewellery workers (thattan) decreasing to a negligible level, the centres at Thrissur and Mumbai mint tonnes of gold ornaments using machines and by employing migrant labourers, particularly from Bengal.
Though it reduces the wastage and makes production much cheaper, the customer is fleeced on account of exorbitant 'making costs'. “Making cost (panikooli) charged on the patented ornaments particularly white gold comes up to around 80 per cent these days. A similar pattern can be seen in jewelleries where they charge around 12-18 per cent. Still ornaments fetch a fancy price (mohavila) which is much higher than the actual costs,” said Shankar adding that jewellery workers would be lucky to get one or two per cent of the making cost.
Stone fraud
“Among the most prolific unfair trade practices are manipulation of weight through stones,” says LMD controller Mohammed Iqbal. “Often when we take out the stones from ornaments, it is terribly light. Such people were slapped with a fine of Rs 25,000,” he added.
A salesperson who explained the trick of the trade on condition of anonymity said that most frauds are done in designer gold ornaments which are selected by consumers from photographs.
“For instance last month, a customer ordered a bridal ring comprising yellow gold, white gold and three stones of three cents each. We received full money in advance and later told customer that our workers have informed that it is practical only to fix one 10 cent stone on it,” he said.
“The customers generally won’t cancel the order fearing waste of time on a bridal ring which he is never going to sell. So we have put a much heavier stone than 10 cent and reduced the amount of gold”. He added that it takes years of experience to assess the value of stones and the consumer should avoid gold ornaments with stones.
Weight manipulation
As per the rules, weighing equipment have to be tested and certified for accuracy by LMD. Weighing balance for bullion trade must have an accuracy of up to 10 mg but most of the retailers use weighing machines with an accuracy of 100 mg.
Officials say that the consumers will have to cross-check the weight of the ornament and will also have to secure a bill with the weight of the gold mentioned in it.
Though similar manipulations are always noted during every raid the departments do not drag influential jewellers to the court and just slap them with fines as small as Rs 5,000.
Big name matters
According to All-Kerala Gold and Silver Merchants Association general secretary Ram Mohan Kamath, buying gold from a trusted name always has its advantages.
“As far as our association is concerned, we always take a pro-consumer stand. So we always go for out of court settlements,” he said accepting that some bigger firms engage in malpractices.
“A trusted jewellery brand will always be ready to redress the complaint of a consumer if any. This may not be the case with the small ones”. Mr Kamath said that a consumer needs to check the hallmark in the jewellery and the system was in place in the state since 2003.
( Source : dc )
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