Some of these were even in the news for tampering with machines used to weigh these precious metals. When their shops were raided by a joint team of the Department of Commerce and Supplies (DoCSM) and Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM) they even mustered the brazenness to protest the move.[break]
The report submitted by NBSM on the quality of gold and silver jewelries shows that bullion traders have been cheating customers by tampering with the weighing machines and selling adulterated gold. It said the samples taken from three jewelry shops on Monday did not meet the quality standard.
NBSM monitoring team on Monday had inspected three jewelry shops -- Shree Ganapati Jewelers, New Road and RB Diamond Jewelers and Tejmin Jewelry at Pyukha and collected gold and silver samples for quality test.
Meanwhile, jewelry shops associated with the Nepal Gold, Silver, Gem and Jewelry Federation (NSGJF) have remained shut for the last few days. They have warned of indefinite protests demanding that the government come up with concrete guidelines on monitoring gold shops.
“The protest is against the way the government team carried out the raid. It was terrifying as the team was large enough and this affected our daily business. Worse still, the team members did not have technical knowledge of different aspects of the jewelry trade,” said Ramesh Maharjan, chairman of NSGJF.
According to the federation, there are altogether 2,000 shops associated with it, of which 800 are in Kathmandu Valley alone.
Gold ear rings taken from Shree Ganapati Jewelers were only 97.1 percent pure though the dealer claimed it was 24 carat gold or 99.5 percent pure. Similarly, a silver anklet was found to have contained lead.
Likewise, silver jewelries at RB Diamond Jewelers and Tejmin Jewelry contained copper and cadmium, respectively. RB Diamond Jewelers was found selling silver bowls that contained two percent copper and Tejmin Jewelry was selling silver utensils containing 7.07 percent cadmium.
Shree Ganapati Jewelers was using a weighing machine meant for weighing silver to weigh gold and diamond. Jewelers need to have separate weighing machines for silver, gold and diamonds.
According to Ram Adhar Sah, director general of NBSM, weighing machines for silver failed to show digits after decimal. Machines used for weighing gold should show up to two decimal numbers, while those for weighing diamond should display up to three decimal numbers.
“Shree Ganapati Jewelers has been cheating customers by using weighing machines meant for weighing silver to measure gold and diamond,” said Shah.
RB Diamonds Jewelers was found using uncertified pocket weighing machine and had tampered with machines used for weighing diamond and gold jewelries. Under the existing rules, weighing machines should be certified by NBSM and the certification should be renewed every year.
Narayan Prasad Bidari, director general of the Department of Commerce and Supplies Management said the dealers would be tried under Consumer Protection Act 1998.
Under Consumer Protection Act, anyone involved in manufacturing, selling, exporting and importing substandard goods may be slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 or a maximum of three years in jail or both.
“We have given the traders three days to come up with their explanations. If found guilty, we will file a case against them and seek maximum punishment for them for cheating customers,” said Bidari.
Shops cheating customers by selling low quality gold will also face action as per the Black Marketing and Other Social Offences and Punishment Act 1975 and those cheating customers will face action under Standard Measurement and Weight Act 1968.
Black Marketing and Some Other Social Offences and Punishment Act 1975 stipulates that those found guilty of black marketeering could be fined up to Rs 25,000 or sentenced to five years in jail.
Likewise, on the basis of Standard Measurement and Weight Act 1968, jewelers could face a jail term of up to one year and a fine of Rs 1,000 for tampering with weighing machines.
Bidari said the bureau is investigating whether the traders deliberately tampered with the machines. “If they have tampered with the machines intentionally we will file a case against them under the Standard Measurement and Weight Act 1968 as well as under Black Marketing and Other Social Offences and Punishment Act 1975 for cheating in quality,” said Sah.
NBSM has also directed the traders to get their weighing machines certified and renewed from the bureau.
Jyoti Baniya, general secretary of the Forum for Protection of Consumer Rights-Nepal (FPCR-N) said the traders deserve the harshest punishment if found guilty.
“Weighing precious metals like gold is not like weighing rice. There should be regular monitoring to discourage such malpractices,” said Baniya.
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