How to check a HUID number: verifying a BIS gold hallmark yourself, at the counter

To check a HUID: find the six-character alphanumeric code laser-marked on the piece, open the BIS CARE app, choose the verify HUID option, and enter it. The app returns the purity that was assayed, the jeweller who registered the article and the hallmarking centre that marked it. It takes about a minute.

Gold is the one large purchase Indian households make where the main attribute - purity - is invisible, unverifiable by eye, and taken entirely on trust. The HUID is the part of that problem which has actually been solved, and almost nobody uses it at the counter where it would do the most good.

What a HUID is

HUID stands for Hallmark Unique Identification. It is a six-character alphanumeric code, unique to one individual article rather than to a design, a batch or a shop, and it is traceable back through the Bureau of Indian Standards to the Assaying and Hallmarking centre that tested that specific piece.

It is one of three marks a hallmarked piece carries, and it is the only one of the three you can independently check.

Step one: find the code on the piece

The HUID is laser-marked, and it is small - deliberately so, because it has to sit somewhere that will not be polished away or spoil the design.

• On a ring, look on the inner face of the band.
• On a chain or a necklace, look at the clasp, or at the flat tag next to it.
• On bangles and kadas, look on the inside surface, often near a join.
• On earrings, look on the post or on the flat back of the setting.
• On a coin or a bar, it is on the face, alongside the other marks.

Ask for a loupe. Every jeweller has one, the marks are genuinely hard to read without it, and asking is normal rather than insulting. Take a photograph of the marks on your phone and zoom in if the loupe is awkward - that also leaves you with a record.

Step two: check it in BIS CARE

BIS CARE is the official Bureau of Indian Standards app, free on both Android and iOS. Install it before you go shopping rather than on the shop WiFi, and check the publisher is the Bureau of Indian Standards - this is an area with imitators.

• Open the app and choose the option to verify a HUID.
• Type the six characters exactly as marked. Case does not matter; character confusion does - see below.
• Submit, and read the record that comes back.

Step three: compare, before you pay

• Does the purity in the app match the grade marked on the piece, and the caratage written on the bill? All three have to agree.
• Does the jeweller name match the shop?
• Does the article type match what you are holding - a record for a ring against a chain in your hand is a problem?
• Does your bill state the net weight of gold separately from stones, the making charges and the wastage? The HUID says nothing about price, and price is where most of the money is lost.

A HUID is a traceability record, not a purity test you are performing. It tells you what an accredited centre reported for that article. That is a great deal better than trust, and it is not the same thing as assaying the metal yourself.

When the code does not resolve

Most failures are misread characters, so check that first and calmly. Laser marking at that size turns 0 and O into each other, along with 1 and I, 5 and S, 8 and B, and 2 and Z. Re-read it under the loupe, try the alternative character, and photograph the mark so you are not working from memory.

If the code is definitely right and the app still returns nothing, or returns a record for a different article, purity or jeweller, then do not complete the purchase. Say what the app shows and ask the jeweller to explain it. A genuine record mismatch is exactly the situation the system exists to surface, and BIS CARE itself carries a complaint route for it.

The scope of mandatory hallmarking, the districts it applies in, and the permitted caratages have all been revised more than once, and silver hallmarking has been moving onto HUID with digital traceability from September 2025. Check the current position on the BIS site rather than relying on what a seller tells you - and rather than relying on this paragraph.

Frequently asked

Buying gold in India is usually emotional, frequently rushed, and often done in a shop full of people. The hallmark and the HUID exist so that at least the part concerning purity does not have to be settled on trust in those conditions. Checking takes a minute, and the only cost of doing it is asking for a loupe.