POS for jewellery shops in India
Last reviewed 2026-05-27 · by the RetailPOS team
India is the world's largest gold jewellery market by volume and the second-largest by value (after only China). Roughly 300,000 jewellers operate across the country — from the giant chain retailers (Tanishq, Kalyan, PC Jeweller, Joyalukkas, GRT) to neighbourhood family-run shops with 30+ year histories in the Chennai Sowcarpet, Mumbai Zaveri Bazaar, Hyderabad Charminar gold market, and Bangalore Commercial Street districts.
India-specific POS considerations differ from neighbouring markets: GST is 3% on gold + 18% on making charge (a unique dual-rate structure); BIS hallmark is mandatory + each piece carries a 6-digit HUID (Hallmark Unique Identifier) registered with the Bureau of Indian Standards; UPI dominates payment (~85% of digital transactions); regional jewellery traditions (Tamil thali, Bengali shankha, Marwari peshwaz) affect the catalogue structure. This guide is for owner-operators of independent Indian jewellers navigating all of these.
GST 3% on gold + 18% on making charge — the dual rate
India's GST on jewellery has a unique structure: the gold content of a piece is taxed at 3% (a concessional rate negotiated for the bullion + jewellery sector); the making charge + stones + other value-added components are taxed at 18%. A single piece sale therefore has two GST line items.
The POS must split the price + apply correct rates. For a 22k gold bangle selling at INR 80,000: gold-content portion (say INR 60,000) at 3% = INR 1,800; making charge (INR 18,000) + stones (INR 2,000) at 18% = INR 3,600; total GST INR 5,400; grand total INR 85,400. The receipt itemises both rates clearly per GST invoice requirements.
A POS that collapses to one rate per item is non-compliant for jewellery. Real dual-rate handling at the line level is the table-stakes requirement; some international POS systems don't do this.
BIS hallmark + HUID per piece
Since April 2023, all gold jewellery (above 2g) sold in India must carry a BIS hallmark + a 6-digit HUID (Hallmark Unique Identifier) etched on the piece + registered with the Bureau of Indian Standards. Each HUID identifies the piece's karat, weight, the jeweller's registration, and the hallmarking centre.
The POS should capture the HUID per piece at receive time + on the sale invoice. Customer verification (the HUID is searchable by the customer on the BIS portal) is part of the customer trust loop. RetailPOS' per-piece unit tracking stores the HUID alongside weight + karat + maker on the variant_unit row.
HUID format example: 6 alphanumeric digits like “AZ4567”. Different from the international GIA/IGI certificate (which is for diamonds + coloured stones); HUID is specifically for gold + silver hallmarking compliance.
UPI as the dominant payment method
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processes roughly 85% of digital retail payments in India in 2026. For jewellery specifically, UPI is the dominant method for purchases below INR 2 lakh; bank-transfer (NEFT/RTGS/IMPS) for larger purchases. Cards still serve premium-tier customers; cash is increasingly rare for mid-large purchases.
The POS should integrate UPI as a primary tender. Customer scans the till's UPI QR code; their app (PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, BHIM) confirms payment; settlement to the merchant account is real-time via UPI rails. RetailPOS integrates with the major UPI providers via the alternative-tender pattern.
For high-ticket sales (above INR 2 lakh), bank transfer is the norm — confirm the transfer hit your account before releasing the piece. Some jewellers split tender: UPI for the deposit, bank transfer for the balance.
Spot gold pricing + the daily rate posting
Indian jewellers post the day's gold spot rate every morning (typically from the local bullion market — Mumbai Zaveri Bazaar rate is the reference for most non-South-Indian markets; Chennai has its own benchmark). Pieces priced against this rate at the moment of sale; some shops lock prices at receive time (less common, simpler workflow).
The POS' spot-priced repricing flow lets the cashier see the morning's rate; the line price computes as (gold weight × spot price + making charge + stones). Customers commonly negotiate making charge (especially on multi-piece purchases); the POS supports per-line manual override with audit logging.
Regional jewellery traditions + catalogue structure
India's jewellery market is regionally diverse. The catalogue + reporting should reflect this:
South Indian (Tamil + Telugu + Kannada + Malayali): thali (the marriage chain), oddiyanam (waist belt), vanki (armlet), maang tikka. Wedding jewellery is a major segment (a typical South Indian wedding set runs INR 5- 25 lakh).
Bengali: shankha (conch-shell bangles), pola, sindoor-mounted ornaments, gold tiklis. Distinct from North Indian aesthetics; some shops specialise.
Marwari + Gujarati: heavy gold work; haar (necklaces); kundan + polki + meena techniques. Specific to communities concentrated in Rajasthan + Gujarat + Mumbai diaspora.
Punjabi + North Indian: jhumka earrings, mangtikka, choker necklaces, tikka-mathapatti combinations.
The POS' category structure + per-piece notes should accommodate regional terminology. A POS that forces “earrings / necklaces / bangles” without sub-tags misses the buyer-segmentation insight your sell-through report could produce.
Stones + diamonds — the GIA/IGI certificate parallel
Diamonds + precious-stone pieces alongside the gold work follow the same per-piece tracking pattern as the UAE jewellery guide. GIA / IGI / SGL certificates per stone; cut + colour + clarity + carat on the unit metadata. Indian customers are sophisticated diamond buyers; the certificate transparency is part of trust.
For mixed gold-and-diamond pieces (engagement rings, mangalsutras with diamond pendants), the receipt itemises gold (3% GST) + diamonds (3% GST in India for cut + polished stones) + making charge (18% GST) separately. Some stores additionally charge wastage + labour at smaller percentages — all of which should land in the audit-defensible receipt.
Indian supply chain + e-way bill compliance
For inter-state shipment of gold above certain thresholds, an e-way bill is required under GST rules. The POS' receiving flow captures the e-way bill reference per shipment; the audit trail satisfies GST inspector queries.
Major bullion + jewellery supply hubs: Mumbai Zaveri Bazaar (largest in volume), Chennai Sowcarpet, Kolkata Bowbazaar, Delhi Karol Bagh, Hyderabad Charminar, Bangalore Commercial Street. Most independents work with 2-4 wholesalers; per-supplier credit terms vary widely (some 30-90 day terms; some cash-on-delivery).
Layaway + the Indian gold-saving culture
Indian customers — especially in tier-2 / tier-3 cities — often buy gold via recurring deposits. Several major chains run formal gold-saving schemes (e.g., Tanishq Maha Anubhav, Kalyan Apna Sona, Joyalukkas Aksaya Tritiya schemes). For independent jewellers, the equivalent is layaway: customer deposits monthly, takes possession when the cumulative deposit matches a piece's value at the prevailing gold rate.
The POS' payment-plan primitive handles this. Cashier creates a plan with scheduled deposits; the piece is held in reserved status; final deposit converts the plan to fulfilled + customer takes possession. Indian customers value the trust + the certainty of the held piece (vs the gold-rate exposure of recurring-deposit schemes that pay out gold at the prevailing future rate).
Frequently asked
- GST 3% on gold + 18% on making charge — does the POS split correctly?
- Yes — the line splits the price into gold-content portion (3% GST) and making-charge-plus-stones portion (18% GST). The receipt itemises both rates per GST invoice requirements. Single-rate POS systems are non-compliant for jewellery.
- HUID per piece — how is it captured?
- HUID stores on the variant_unit row at receive time alongside weight + karat + maker. Customer-facing receipt shows the HUID for BIS portal verification. RetailPOS' per-piece tracking accommodates HUID as a structured field, not free-text.
- UPI integration?
- UPI as a primary tender via the major providers (PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, BHIM). Cashier rings sale + selects UPI; customer scans the till's QR; settlement to merchant account real-time. Bank transfer (NEFT/RTGS/IMPS) also supported for high-ticket purchases.
- Spot gold rate updates?
- Daily rate entry at shop open (manually input from the morning rate posting); or via spot-price feed integration (Bloomberg / Reuters bullion feed) for higher-tier setups. Per-piece pricing computes as gold-weight × rate + making + stones at the moment of sale.
- Inter-state e-way bill compliance?
- E-way bill reference captures per shipment in receiving. Audit trail satisfies GST inspector queries on inter-state movement of gold above threshold values.
- Hindi receipts?
- Bilingual receipts (English + Hindi or English + regional language) supported on Star + Epson printers. Item names typically English; receipt headers + payment method + GST breakdown print bilingually. Regional language support: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi.
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