Almost all the customers who
buy gold jewellery get conned by the jewellery
shop owners in the city and the amount
fleeced from them ranges from Rs 2,500 to Rs
7,500 per 10 grams of the precious metal
purchased. Outgoing legal metrology controller
R P Thakur on Friday enlightened the public
about some of the several techniques adapted
by the gold sellers including leading jewellery
shops in Hyderabad to con the customers.
The main method adopted by the jewellers to
con people is selling low carat gold and
charging for high carat. "Gold jewellery can be
made only out of 22 carat gold while diamond
and other precious stones-studded gold
jewellery can be made only with 18 carat gold.
But it is a common practice among jewellers to
charge customers the price of 24 carat gold.
By doing so, a jeweller gains an additional
profit ranging from Rs 2,500 to 7,500 per every
10 grams. This fraud is prevalent mostly in
diamond and other precious stones-studded
jewellery sales," Thakur said. According to
legal metrology officials, by using a simple
formula, one can calculate the gold price for
each purity level easily. If 10 grams of gold
with 24 carat purity is priced at 30,000, a
customer can use a simple formula
(22/24x30,000 = Rs 27,500) to calculate the 22
carat gold price while that of 18 carat gold
would be 18/24x30,000 = Rs 22,500. Thus
those buying gold studded with diamond or
other precious stones are being gypped of Rs
7,500 for every 10 grams of gold purchased as
they pay for 24 carat gold while what they get
is 18 carat gold.
A second major method of the jewelers
conning the customers is by charging heavily
for wastage. While making an ornament, some
quantity of gold gets wasted and while selling
an ornament, jewelers recover that cost from
the customers. In jewelry purchase receipts, a
customer can clearly see the wastage and
making charges. As per government rules, for
studded jewelry (both gold and platinum) the
wastage claimed by jeweler cannot exceed 9 %
of the net weight of the metal and for non-
studded designer jewelry, it cannot exceed
3.5%. For coins, biscuits and medallions, the
wastage cannot be claimed beyond 1.25% .
"But it has been observed that several jewelers
including the very popular ones have been
claiming wastage charges ranging from 15 to
25%. That means jewelers are making
additional profit of lakhs of rupees each day
illegally," said a senior legal metrology official.
A third method of conning is in the billing. As
per rules, the receipt should contain the gross
weight (weight of the ornament) of the item
purchased, and the net weight (weight of gold
used in the ornament). However, the jewelers
state the gross weight against the net weight
column because of which the customer is kept
in the dark as to the actual amount of gold
used in making the ornament.
Yet another method of conning is while selling
studded jewelry, the merchant does not deduct
the stone weight from the gross weight of the
ornament. By doing so, he charges the
customer the gold price for the entire
ornament while in reality, he has to deduct the
weight of the stones used.
It was also observed that despite having clear
cut rules to use weighing scales of 1 mg
accuracy, only 60 per cent of the jewelers in
the state are using them. The remaining
jewelers continue to use 10 mg accuracy
scales where the permissible error is high.
In case of noticing any such malpractices at a
jewelry store, the legal metrology controller has
advised the customers to immediately lodge a
complaint with the legal metrology sleuths by
sending an SMS at 9490165619 or by calling at
18604253333 or by sending an email to
CONNING GLITTERALLY
Jewelers often con people by selling low carat
gold and charging for high carat
Buyers of gold studded with diamond or other
stones are being gypped of Rs 7,500 for every
10 grams of gold purchased as they pay for 24
carat gold while what they get is 18 carat gold
While selling studded jewelry, the merchant
does not deduct the stone weight from the
gross weight of the ornament
Another major method of jewelers conning
customers is by charging heavily for wastage...
Thank you... TOI
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