GEMS, JEWELLERY OUT OF MONEY LAUNDERING ACT IN POLL-TIME SOP

With the Gujarat elections coming, the finance ministry on Friday took out the gems and jewellery sector out of the purview of the Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act, 2002.

Under the Act, jew- ellers had to keep records including PAN and Aadhaar numbers of all transactions above `50,000. The sector was brought under the MPLA as many jewellers had helped in converting black money after demonetisation.

With the Gujarat elections coming, finance ministry on Friday took out gems and jewellery sector from the preview of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

In August 2017, finance ministry had brought the sector under PMLA. This meant that the jewellers had to keep detail record including PAN and Aadhaar number of all high cost transactions above `50,000.

The sector was brought under stringent PMLA as it was found that many jewellers had helped in converting black money into white after demonetisation was announced in November 2016.

The ministry said that the government had received representations from various associations in the gems and jewellery sector with respect to certain incongruities in notification wherein dealers in precious metals, precious stones and other high value goods were notified as person carrying on designated business and professions under PMLA.

“After considering various aspects of the issue, the government has decided to rescind the said notification. A separate notification after due consideration of points raised and wider stakeholder consultation in this regard, shall be issued separately,” it said.

Under PMLA, any entity that deals in precious metals, precious stones, or other high-value goods and has a turnover of `2 crore or more in a financial year will be covered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The limit of `2 crore was to be calculated on the basis of the previous year’s turnover, said the notification. “I had met with Mr Shah at his home in Delhi and he told me that in a meeting with Prime Minister they had decided to take out gems and jewellery sector from the preview of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002,” Gem and Jewellery Federation chairman Nitin Khandelwal told this newspaper.