Top jewellers have decided that for the period of Akshaya Tritiya they will sell gold online accompanied by digital certificates of possession and give physical delivery at a later date when normalcy resumes.

Akshaya Tritiya falls on April 26 and the purchase of gold on that day is considered auspicious among people.

The trade is plumping for the e-commerce route after sales from stores crashed because of the lockdown, with recovery expected only during the festival season in the second half of the year.

Tata group jewellery brand Tanishq on Sunday said it will start Akshaya Tritiya sales on its e-commerce platform between April 18 and April 27. Once normalcy resumes, customers can either opt to go to the store to pick up their jewellery or get it delivered at their doorsteps.

“Contactless shopping experience throughout will be a new experience for us and for our customers as well. We have trained our retail team in the process. They are prepared to deal with our customers in the virtual world,” said Ajoy Chawla, CEO, jewellery division, Titan Company Limited.

“We have launched new technology initiatives such as video calling feature, live assisted chat on our website and setting up of a remote war room to resolve any customer query in real-time to name a few,” Chawla said.

Kalyan Jewellers said gold ownership certificates can be purchased on the company’s website from April 21 onwards.

Customers can purchase gold from 2 grams upwards, and the certificates will be sent to them on the day of Akshaya Tritiya via email,WhatsApp or other customer recommended platforms.

Once the lockdown is lifted, the customer can redeem their certificate against physical gold, in the form of jewellery or coins, on or before December 31, 2020.

Customers will also get the benefit of protection against price fluctuations.

“Owing to the extension of the lockdown, our social media channels and customer relationship managers are flooded with queries about purchasing gold on the auspicious day. This has promoted us to come up with a solution,” said T.S. Kalyanaraman, chairman and managing director, Kalyan Jewellers.

The gold ownership certificate would indicate the person owns the yellow metal with a certain amount of value fulfilling the tradition of purchasing gold on Akshaya Tritiya day.

”While we know that this temporary solution of gold ownership certificate is no match for the real gold, we are happy that we will be able to keep the tradition going,” he said.

Meanwhile, the issue price for the sovereign gold bond has been fixed by the RBI at Rs 4,639 per gram of the yellow metal. The Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2020-21-Series I will be opened for subscription from April 20 to 24.

The central bank had said the government will issue sovereign gold bonds (SGBs) in six tranches beginning April 20 till September.