Govt told to end supply constraints

KATHMANDU, June 15: Consumer rights activists have sharply criticized the Competition Board (CB) for remaining defunct in ending syndicate system and other anomalies and urged for strong government intervention to do away with supplies related constraints that has consistently buoyed inflation.



They have requested the government to add legal teeth to market regulators and also pushed for setting up a separate Consumer Protection Fund (CPF) in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. [break]



“The CPF is necessary to promote market researches, inspection and investigation, and also file petition on cases related to the violation of consumer rights,” Nepal Consumers Rights Protection Forum (NCRPF) has said in its suggestions for the upcoming budget.



The recommendations recently submitted to Ministry of Finance (MoF) argued that the CPF was also necessary to launch campaigns on consumers´ interest -- something that has never been implemented despite repeated promises.



The government in the budget for 2009/10 had announced to launch market monitoring campaigns for protecting consumers´ interests and guaranteeing people´s rights to quality goods at reasonable prices. It had also promised to harshly punish those involved in syndicate and cartel, creating artificial scarcity in the market and disturbing supply system.



However, the truckers association and transporters over the period reintroduced syndicate system and resorted to collective price fixing, raising fares by over 66 percent, adding burden to general consumers.



“In last one month, they have raised the cost of transportation by Rs 5 per kg. Still the government has done nothing to correct the market,” said Jyoti Baniya, general secretary of NCRPF.



Though the government formed Competition Board under the chairmanship of Commerce and Supplies Secretary to end unfair practices in the market, it has remained defunct so far. It has neither met once nor taken any interest in regulating the market and ensuring smooth and efficient supply system.



“How will the current supply-pushed inflation moderate if the top officials do not do justice to their job and position?” wondered another consumer rights activist. To do away with this apathy, he even urged to government to introduce the system of ´reward and punishment´ in Competition Board and other market regulatory agencies.



NCRPF has also requested the government to allocate adequate budgets for the Competition Board and Consumers Rights Monitoring Council, apart from making them pro-active. It has also demanded the government to form a separate department to look after the issues of consumers´ rights and interest.



Presently, the task is entrusted to the Department of Commerce. However, it has consistently failed to fulfill its duties. Concerned officials tagged poor resource allocation, manpower constraints and weak legal backing as major reasons behind the poor performance of the Department of Commerce.



Consumer right activists argue that the main problem with DoC is that its main function is to facilitate trade and offers. Upholding consumer right is jut like a part time job for it.



“These two responsibilities at times become conflicting tasks. Hence, the task of upholding consumers´ rights must be separated from Department of Commerce,” Baniya said.



New team in Competition Board



Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) has formed the new executive body of Competition Board and announced that it would soon hold its meeting to take up activities to fight syndicate, cartel and other unfair practices in the market.



The newly formed team has Commerce and Supplies Secretary Purushottam Ojha as Chairman, joint secretary from Ministry of Law, Ministry of Home and Ministry of Finance as members. It also has Surendra Bir Malakar, president of Nepal Chamber of Commerce, and Anuj Agrawal of Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) as members from the private sector.



The board has representatives from Nepal Consumers Rights Forum, Nepal Consumers Forum, Consumer Forum Nepal and Madhes Consumer Forum as members.



“Our previous executive team could not take appropriate actions because we lacked Competition Regulations. Now that the regulation is in place, the board will soon hold meeting, identify areas wherein it will work and start operations,” said Anil Kumar Thakur, director general of Department of Commerce.



Thakur, who is also the member secretary of the board, told myrepublica.com that the board will basically take steps to end transporters syndicate, cartel and collective price fixing and other anti-competitive practices that exist in the market.

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