KATHMANDU, March 13: Nepal’s first consumer court is all set to come online from March 15, with the government formally notifying the lower house about the date of commencement of the court.
On Tuesday, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya tabled the date of operationalizing the country’s first consumer court at the House of Representatives. According to him, the government has decided to bring into operation the consumer court from Saturday.
A Cabinet meeting held in the first week of February decided to set up the first judicial structure of its type in the country. In the first phase, the government is establishing the consumer court that will look after the consumer-related issues of the Kathmandu Valley.
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Endorsing the recommendation of the Judicial Council on October 28, 2024, the government is stepping up to form consumer court. The council recommended Judge Ram Prasad Sharma of Kathmandu District Court to chair the consumer court, and under-secretary Gehendra Raj Regmi was nominated as a member.
A consumer court is a special-purpose court which primarily deals with consumer-related disputes, conflicts and grievances. It is one of the most aspired judicial bodies to bring unscrupulous traders under a legal framework within a fast-track system.
Jyoti Baniya, chairperson at the Forum for Protection of Consumer Rights Nepal, told Republica that the government is setting up the first consumer court on the premise of the Department of Industry, Tripureshwor. According to him, the Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut will be inaugurating the consumer court on Saturday.
In the initial phase, the consumer court will oversee three types of cases related to violation of consumers’ rights. The court will be liable to give its verdict on cases related to compensation, offenses defined by the Consumer Protection Act and the government specific issues related to consumer protection, according to Baniya.
Time and again, general people have been hard hit by the malpractices in the market that include food adulteration, unfair pricing of products, artificial shortages and poor services by the firms concerned. In absence of the consumer court, consumers are compelled to either stay silent against the suffering they withstand or they have to undergo lengthy bureaucratic and legal procedures to get justice.
Although Consumer Protection Act 2018 has envisioned setting up a consumer court, it could not be materialized for the past six years. The provision of act momentum only since last year, with the government through announcement of the budget for the fiscal year 2023/24 took forward the formation of a consumer court in Kathmandu on a trial basis and allocated Rs 10 million for this purpose.
