Consumer protection in India needs to move from a redressal model to a preventive model. Discuss with reference to hallmarking and conformity assessment.

India mostly protects consumers after they have been harmed, through complaints under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. At World Standards Day 2026, the Department of Consumer Affairs called for preventive protection built on testing, digital enforcement and conformity assessment [1]. Hallmarking shows both how far this shift has come and how far it still has to go.

Limits of the redressal model

• It acts after harm is done: a consumer must first be cheated or injured, and only then can they sue.
• Buyers cannot check quality themselves: a household cannot test metal purity or whether a cable is safe.
• It is slow and costly: poorer and rural buyers rarely go to court.

Hallmarking as prevention

• Gold: hallmarking has been mandatory since 16 June 2021, with exemptions for small jewellers [2].
• Silver jewellery: HUID-based hallmarking under IS 2112:2025 began on 1 September 2025. Buyers can check a piece on the BIS Care app [3]. Over 17 lakh items were hallmarked within three months [4].
• Silver Refinery Scheme (2026): licensed refineries and mints hallmark bullion and coins (999.9/999.5/999.0) with a unique serial number that makes each batch traceable [1].

Conformity assessment

• Licensing: refineries are licensed only after BIS checks their technical competence and testing infrastructure [1].
• Quality Control Orders (QCOs): these make BIS certification compulsory before a product can be sold or imported [5].
• New safety standards: IS 19967 (EV charging cables) and IS 19891 (e-cycles) set safety baselines for clean mobility. The Digital Standard Reader makes standards available in Indian languages [1].

Gaps that remain

• Silver jewellery hallmarking is still voluntary: a jeweller can legally sell unmarked low-purity silver [4].
• Standards are not yet binding: EV standards do not apply in the market until a QCO notifies them.
• Compliance costs for MSMEs: small firms needed extra time (6 months for micro, 3 months for small) and shared labs [5].
• Enforcement still relies on raids, which only catch violations after the sale.

Way forward

• Make silver jewellery hallmarking mandatory in phases, following the gold model [2].
• Set fixed timelines for certification and expand testing labs.
• Assess the cost of each QCO before notifying it.

Overall, hallmarking and conformity assessment can make prevention the first line of consumer protection, with redressal as the backstop. Combining a mandatory but MSME-sensitive standards system with the CPA's right to be protected against hazardous goods would make "Quality, Quality, and only Quality" [1] the basis of consumer trust in a Viksit Bharat.