KATHMANDU, Aug 16: Kumar Prasad Dahal, Director General of the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection (DoCSCP), who had tried to control excessive fees charged by schools with the involvement of two ministers and enforce the implementation of Maximum Retail Price (MRP) to curb revenue evasion, has been transferred to the National Inclusion Commission. His transfer, seen as an undeclared punishment for attempting to regulate school fees and enforce MRP, comes barely five months after he took charge of the department.
According to sources, Dahal was transferred after trying to bring Ullens School—linked to Minister of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Arzu Rana Deuba—under regulation and process. He had sought to regulate the fee system of Ullens and other schools charging exorbitant fees. After the department strictly enforced MRP from April 2, as per Section 6 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2018, businesses had been pressuring the government to reconsider the decision.
The department, under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies (MoICS), had stated that MRP was implemented to ensure transparency in the market and safeguard consumer rights. The initiative was driven by Dahal. “The MRP system curbs irregularities in the market, brings tax evaders and smugglers under legal scrutiny,” he had said.
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While Dahal was preparing to penalize Ullens and other schools running A-Level and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs without permission and without fee approval from local governments, he was transferred.
The department had sought details from Lalitpur Metropolitan City regarding Ullens and Nightingale School, which is linked to Youth and Sports Minister Tejulal Chaudhary. Following this, pressure to transfer Dahal had increased. “The fee details of schools involving ministers were demanded, and ever since then, attempts were being made to transfer him,” said an employee of the department. Joint Secretary Dahal has already expressed dissatisfaction with the transfer. He is due for mandatory retirement in November.
After the Secondary Education Examination (SEE) results were published, private schools had begun admitting new students in Grade 11. The department had monitored private schools, which had been charging exorbitant fees under the pretext of offering international curricula and education. This monitoring had been earlier reported by Republica. The DoCSCP had initiated inspections after complaints that private schools were arbitrarily charging high fees.
The monitoring was conducted from March 27 to June 18 under Dahal’s leadership, covering Ullens, Nightingale, Little Angels, United, Rato Bangala, Pathshala, Machhapuchhre World School, Millsberry, Bhaktapur Modern, Premier International, Brihaspati Vidyasadan, Rai School, Rosebud School, Galaxy, Sifal School, Alok Vidyashram, Kathmandu Euro School, Kavya, KMC, Nisarga Batika, Valley View, Nobel Academy, Sirjanashil Pratiksha Shiksha, DAV, Swastishree Gurukul, and Genius School.
Schools found with irregularities were being prepared for action. According to the department, these schools charged up to 10 times higher fees than allowed, ran foreign programs without government permission, were not registered with government bodies, failed to pay taxes, did not provide services corresponding to the fees collected, cheated parents in the name of registration and deposits, and engaged in misleading advertisements.
In 2016, Dahal had also served as DG of the DoCSCP but was transferred after 11 months. After nearly nine years, he returned to the department but has now been transferred again within six months.
The Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Morang Trade Association, Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Nepal Chamber of Commerce in Kathmandu had opposed MRP implementation from the start. Similarly, the Private and Boarding Schools’ Organization Nepal (PABSON) and the National Private and Boarding Schools’ Association Nepal (NPABSON) jointly met MoICS Damodar Bhandari to express dissatisfaction over the department’s monitoring and pressured for Dahal’s transfer. Black marketeers also reportedly pushed for his removal from the DoCSCP.