116 Gold Traders Booked For Cheating Customers In Last 5 Months: Odisha Minister

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Bhubaneswar: A total of 116 gold traders were found indulging in malpractice to deceive customers in the last 5 months, Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra told the Odisha Assembly on Wednesday.

Replying to a query of BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain, the Minister said 3,125 raids were conducted during this period and fine amounting to Rs 3.13 lakh collected from those deceiving customers. Cases have also been registered against these traders for violating Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and Orissa Legal Metrology (Enforcement) Rules, 2011, he added.

The errors were found in the weights and measures system.

Partra said that such corrupt practices have mostly been reported from Ganjam, Khurda (Bhubaneswar) and Cuttack districts.  Irregularities were detected in 65 of 867 jewellery stores in Cuttack district during inspection between 2023-24 and 2024-25 (up to August) and fined Rs Rs 1,67,400. “There have been no complaints regarding the sale of substandard (non-hallmarked) jewellery in Cuttack district,. To ensure the quality of gold, BIS regularly collects samples of hallmarked gold jewellery from the market for testing in BIS laboratories. If any sample fails the test, action is taken as per the BIS Act, 2016,” he said.

The Department of Legal Metrology also conduct regular and surprise raids on jewellery stores and those violating norms are prosecuted, the Minister said.

Last year, 495 traders were found guilty of defrauding customers and Rs 15.3 lakh was collected as fine, he added.