The decisions were taken during a meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday. “The meeting has decided to complete these tasks within March 15,” one of the participants of the meeting told Republica. [break]
The meeting, chaired by Chief Secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire, was attended Home Secretary Sushil JB Rana, Commerce Secretary Lal Mani Joshi and Joyti Baniya, president of Consumers Rights Protection Forum (CRPF), among others.
“The meeting has also decided to monitor the market effectively,” Baniya said after the meeting, adding, “The decisions made on Sunday are in favor of consumers. We are looking forward to seeing the effective implementation of the decisions.”
According to Baniya, the endorsement of the act will also pave the way for establishment of Consumers Protection Trust (CPT) and Consumer Court (CC). The establishment of these bodies is expected to uphold consumers rights
The meeting also decided to enhance human resources capacity and other physical infrastructures, including vehicles, at the Department of Commerce, Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology, and the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control.
It also decided to give more power to market monitoring officers in districts so that they can take prompt actions against unscrupulous traders.
As per existing laws, market monitoring officers can only seal the shops found involved in black-marketing. They can take action against unscrupulous traders on the spot once the act is amended.
Consumers have hailed the government initiative to uphold consumers rights make market monitoring more effective.
“The government has finally taken the initiative to establish consumer court. It will uphold consumers rights and punish traders fleecing consumers in market,” Baniya added.
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