Date:06/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/06/stories/2008050657770100.htm

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126 jewellers booked for violations

Some of them found charging extra price of 11 to 14 per cent

Weighing machines were not re-verified and stamped
Weight of diamonds should not be included

A legal metrology official inspecting a weighing machine in a jewellery shop in Hyderabad on Monday.

HYDERABAD: ‘Akshaya Tritiya’, the festival on May 7 and 8 that has come to be associated with gold purchases, turned sour for several jewellers across the State with officials of the Legal Metrology Department cracking down on 126 shops on Monday and booking cases for irregularities in the sale of gold and silver jewellery besides gold coins.

In the State capital alone, cases were booked against 25 shops located in Abids, Somajiguda, Chikkadpally, Dilsukhnagar and Secunderabad, said a press release issued by Tejdeep Kaur Menon, Controller, Legal Metrology.

Officials found that certain shops were charging an extra price of 11 to 14 per cent on the ground that there was wastage while making gold ornaments and they were using weighing machines that showed weight exceeding the limits of permissible error.

In several cases, the weighing machines were not re-verified and stamped and still in some others, the weights and weighing instruments were not presented for re-verification within the prescribed time. Ornaments and coins were found to weigh less than the figure mentioned in the bill or the estimate slip.

According to the release, the law states that the weight should not include that of diamonds and precious stones at the time of sale along with ornaments. Jewellers need to charge only for the gold in the ornament.

The cost of diamonds/precious stones should be shown separately in terms of weight and cost.

Cases were also booked against shops in Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Proddatur, Kadapa, Anantapur, Tirupati, Chittoor, Suryapet, Tenali, Narsaraopet, Guntur, Bhimavaram, Eluru, Jangareddygudem, Nellore, Warangal, Karimnagar, Adilabad, Khammam, Kakinada, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Kurnool, Nandyal, Nizamabad, Sangareddy, Medak, Kamareddy, Gudiwada and Ongole.

Helpline

The department launched a helpline 1-860-425-3333 which will be open on all working days from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is hosting information on website www.apcolm.gov.in. Complaints can also be mailed to apcolm@gmail.com.