About BIS Certification

The Product Certification Scheme of BIS aims at providing Third Party Guarantee of quality, safety and reliability of products to the ultimate customer. Presence of ISI certification mark known as Standard Mark on a product is an assurance of conformity to the specifications. The conformity is ensured by regular surveillance of the licensee’s performance by surprise inspections and testing of samples, drawn both from the market and factory.

Procedure For Grant of License For Domestic Manufacturers

The applicant has the option to choose any of the following two procedures for grant of BIS license:

(i) Normal Procedure –
In the normal procedure, the applicant is required to submit the filled in application along with required documents and requisite fee to the nearest BIS branch office. Subsequently, after recording of the application, a preliminary factory evaluation is carried out by BIS officer to ascertain the capability of the applicant/manufacturer to produce goods according to the relevant Indian Standard and to verify the availability of complete testing facility and competent technical personnel.

Samples are tested in the factory and also drawn for independent testing. Grant of license is considered by BIS provided the samples pass during independent testing, preliminary evaluation is satisfactory and the applicant agrees to operate the defined Scheme of Testing & Inspection and pay the prescribed marking fee.

(ii) Simplified Procedure –
In the simplified procedure, applicant is required to furnish the test report(s) of the sample(s) got tested by him in the BIS approved laboratories, along with the application. If the test report(s) and other documents are found satisfactory, a verification visit is carried out by BIS. The license is granted thereafter if the verification report is found satisfactory. The applicant also has the option to get the documents and other details as specified in the application, certified by a Chartered Engineer and submit the same to BIS. The license then shall be granted after scrutiny of the documents and report submitted by Chartered Engineer. By this procedure the license is expected to be granted within 30 days of receipt of application by BIS, provided all required documents are furnished and found satisfactory.

Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery in India

Introduction

Culturally, the Indian people have a great fascination for gold. It should be recognized that in India, in common with other Asian Countries, gold has a very important role in our cultural heritage. Gold is considered as a commodity, and not a product. Any form of gold is equal to any other form of gold. It is viewed to be homogenous and indistinguishable, having no brand or expiry date. As a result, gold demand is not price-elastic. Rather it is prosperity elastic – that is, increments in household income are generally matched by purchases of more gold.

Unless alloyed with a comparatively small proportion of some other metal, both pure gold and pure silver are too soft to withstand wear as an article for use or adornment. This necessity has always demanded some system of control if frauds on the public are to be prevented, because adulteration of articles manufactured from the precious metals by the introduction of too much of the strengthening alloy is a type of fraud to which the public is extremely vulnerable. It is easy to perpetrate, because with both metals a considerable excess of alloy can be introduced without changing the color, and is difficult to detect without technical tests.