Demand momentum positive; need clarity on KYC norms: Titan

Jewellery volumes have picked up post the recent fall in gold prices, but new government norms like know your customer details could weigh on volumes in the near-term, Bhaskar Bhat, MD, Titan Industries , said on Thursday.

The government recently amended the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and it has now made it mandatory for jewellers to seek KYC details from customers whose bill is more than Rs 50,000.

Bhat told CNBC-TV18 that while the government regulation was a step in right direction, more clarity on KYC norms and amended PML Act was needed.

"...Now, Prevention of Money Laundering Act particularly, the details are not yet known because the rules have not been framed, so whether it applies to retail outlets, jewellers or only to bullion traders and gems and gem stone traders and entities, that's not very clear," he said.

Bhat says that while the company has already been capturing customer data on invoices across its Titan, Tanishq and Gold Plus outlets, it will only start following the new KYC guidelines once the government issues more details and clarifications.

As such he says, since large part of jewellery purchases happen via cash payments, customers will have to be convinced to provide the details sought under KYC norms.

Bhat, though, remains confident that Titan will be able to convince customers on that front given the strong brand value.

The company has already complied with earlier requirements of getting pan card details of customers for transactions over Rs 5 lakhs and the company has lost a "little bit of business," he said.

Meanwhile, the company is seeing positive demand momentum in the second half of the current financial year, especially since the fall in gold prices in the last few weeks.

"The last few months have been better, especially in the last six weeks or so, gold prices having come down, volumes have come back," he said.

Also Read: Expect further decline in Gold and Silver, says Nirmal Bang