Come July, exchanging old jewellery with new ones will cost you more than it used to.

At present, taxes are not levied if you go with your old gold jewellery to exchange them with new ones.

With the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1, customers will have to pay 3 per cent GST on the worth of the new jewellery they get in exchange.

But that's not all.

They will have to pay an additional 18 per cent GST on making charges of the new jewellery, which is nil at present.

Swetambari Singh, 42, a homemaker who lives at the upscale Nageshwar Colony in Patna, is discontent with the new provisions and rues that she will have to put an end to her habit of exchanging jewellery every few months.

"A progressive woman would tell you that exchanging jewellery is trending. Reputable shops would not charge anything on the gold (jewellery) if purchased from them, and we have been paying only the making charges to get the new ones in lieu for old. There were no taxes on the gold or the making charges so far," Swetambari told The Telegraph.

Ritika Thakur, a professional with an FMCG company, who swears by the latest trend in jewellery fashion, said 3 per cent GST on gold and 18 per cent on making charges will burn a hole in everybody's pockets.

"The trend of exchanging jewellery will die a slow death now. I am sure lakhs of women will hate this. You have to understand that a woman already loses on the making charges she paid for the old jewellery, while exchanging it for the new ones. She has to pay again for the making charges on the new ones. This costs a lot already and imposing GST will dampen the chances of exchanging jewellery. We appeal to the Centre to reconsider the decision," added the 26-year-old.

The GST provisions will be applicable on precious stone-studded jewellery, however, the trend of exchanging such ornaments never caught up like for gold jewellery.

At present, Bihar has around 55,000 big and small jewellery shops, including 5,200 in Patna. Their total turnover was around Rs 17,000 crore in 2016-17 as per the figures of Bihar chapter of Swarnakar Samaj Vikas and Sodh Sansthan (SSVSS), a pan-India body of jewellers.

SSVSS Bihar chapter president Arun Kumar Verma threw light on the present tax system on gold ornaments in Bihar, which is 1 per cent excise and another 1 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT).

"Replacing it with 3 per cent GST on gold and 18 per cent on making charges will make jewellery dearer. These will be naturally passed on to the customers. We will not even be able to claim any input tax credit and the tax increase will be unfavourable to customers and hurt our business," Arun said.

He added that jewellers across the state are confused, as they are not being able to grasp the nitty-gritty of GST. Arun demanded that the Union government should postpone the GST imposition on gold for another two to three months so that jewellery shopowners could get a basic understanding of the new tax regime.

Bihar Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BCCI) president P.K. Agrawal said jewellery shopowners were confused on whether they will have to do separate billing for GST on the precious metal and GST on making charges or the two rates had to be billed together.