WARANGAL/VISAKHAPATNAM: With the steep rise in gold prices in the recent years, investors are looking at gold as a safe investment. It is the only asset that has remained upbeat for a long time. However, people who invest in gold are being duped by small gold traders who are tampering with both the weight and purity of gold.“Many such incidents of small traders tampering with quality and weight have come to light in the past,” says M Rajitha, a housewife from Desayapeta. Mostly, more copper is mixed with gold and that is how people are cheated,” she adds. Though branded showrooms add taxes to the price, the purity of gold can be assured as they make sure that their products are hallmarked or certified according to Indian standard specification on gold alloys.“We do not tamper either with weight or purity of gold. Purity is promised in branded showrooms,” says TATA Gold Plus, Warangal and Karimnagar franchisee B Sampath Kumar.Every ornament would have a hallmark on it."We also educate customers on the quality of the products they buy," Kumar said.Meanwhile, people who wish to make new gold ornaments out of old ones cannot approach the branded stores as they do not allow this option. So, they finally go to small gold traders who indulge in tampering.“Because branded gold stores do not deal with remake, small traders are our obvious and only choice,” said Manda Latha of Hanamkonda Machili Bazar.In such cases, during the remake process, traders tamper with the purity of gold, she says and adds, “it is only obvious.”According to legal metrology department controller M Gopikrishna Reddy, if any case of tampering or cheating by gold traders was brought to their notice, strict action would be taken against the shop owners.“Four days ago, we registered cases against traders who had tampered with purity and weight,” he said.There are nearly 100 gold shops in Hanamkonda, of which, about 43 are said to be indulging in malpractices, Gopikrishna said.The metrology department has directed all gold shop owners to mention on the bill clearly the details of the purity of gold and quantities of various metals mixed, the metrology controller said.“Strict action will be taken against traders who do not specify the details on the bill.” Gopikrishna said that they were authorised to check irregularities.However, he clarified that the department had nothing to do with testing the purity of gold.Manager of the Reliance Jewellery store in Visakhapatnam, G Madhura, said the majority of customers are purchasing KDM jewellery for assured purity.In the conventional method, during the manufacture of ornaments, crafted pieces are soldered together using an alloy, thus reducing the purity of gold.Purity is maintained if the pieces are joined using cadmium (KDM).While exchanging KDM jewellery, customers can get a fair deal without much wastage.Meanwhile, sources said many goldsmiths snatch away 1 to 1.5 grams out of of 10 grams of gold while making jewellery, describing it as process waste, though not so much is wasted really.Secondly, the stones in the jewellery are charged to customers at the price of gold while selling, and while exchanging old ornaments those stones would be excluded and only the actual weight of gold is taken into account.
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