Consumer protection department vows to intensify market monitoring to curb ‘arbitrary’ price hike
KATHMANDU, Oct 10: Traders have raised the price of drinking water by Rs 10 to Rs 15 per 20-liter jar. Earlier in August, the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection had set the minimum retail price of Rs 50 per jar in line with the traders’ interest. However, it had put on hold the implementation of the decision following widespread criticism.
Traders have now raised the price citing the decision of minimum retail price set by the department.
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“I was selling drinking water at the rate of Rs 40 per jar. However, I have now started to sell it at Rs 50 after the buying price went up. The price varies based on the brand,” said Pramod Guragain, a retailer at Kathmandu-16.
Madhav Timilsina, president of Consumer Rights Investigation Forum, said that the price of drinking water has gone up by Rs 10 to Rs 15 per jar.
“The price of water has been increased in a planned way. The water suppliers and traders have raised the price citing the government’s decision to fix the MRP at Rs 50,” he said.
Though the department has decided to put on hold the implementation of the new MRP after it drew criticism and landed into a parliamentary committee, traders have defied the decision and arbitrarily raised the price.
Water bottlers also admit the rise of the drinking water price. Subhash Bhandari, President of Nepal Bottled Water Industries Association, said that the factory price of the drinking water has been raised only by 1 rupee to Rs 5 per jar. “The industries were selling drinking water at Rs 15 to Rs 16 per jar, and the price has now been set at Rs 20 per jar,” said Bhandari. “I do not see any reason to raise the price of drinking water significantly,” he added.
Government officials say that they plan to intensify market monitoring to curb the arbitrary price hike. “We have received complaints that the jar water has been hiked by Rs 10 to Rs 15. We will ramp up market monitoring from Sunday and take necessary action if the price is found to be raised,” said Rabindra Acharya, the spokesperson of the department, adding that they have already cautioned traders and bottlers about the consequence of price hike. The spokesperson also said that the implementation of the revised MRP has been put on hold.
