Due to lack of efficient operation and quality of essential services such as health, education, communication, transportation, electricity, drinking water, roads, thousands of citizens have to lose not only their wealth but also their lives.
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Article 44 of the Constitution guarantees consumer rights as fundamental rights. Providing every consumer with the right to enjoy quality goods and services, it has also guaranteed the right to receive compensation in case of any damage caused by poor quality goods and services.
However, the general consumer has not created an environment where they can confidently use goods and services. Although there are dozens of agencies and dozens of laws to regulate and monitor every sector, due to the lack of effective implementation, a consumer has to feel disappointed when he returns home after going to the market in the morning.
In order to implement the fundamental rights of consumers provided by the constitution, the state level has to act, but it is often seen as zero. Due to the lack of inter-organizational coordination between the union, state and local governments and due to the fact that a clean and competitive market is not prioritized, the rights of the common consumers are becoming less and less day by day. A consumer is the individual who consumes any good or service. A substance refers to chemicals and levels associated with a substance and use. Service means labor, facility and consultation without any service charge.
Due to the failure to establish certain standards for effective monitoring of essential food items such as milk, vegetables, fruits, fish, meat, and water, the general consumer is being cheated day by day in terms of price, quality and weight. In particular, it has been almost 7 years since the Consumer Protection Act 2075 was promulgated. The Act has not been fully implemented. Protecting and promoting the 8 rights guaranteed by the Act does not appear to be the government's top priority.
According to the structure of the state, the role of the state government and local government has not been seen due to not using the rights given by the unified law and the constitution. Due to lack of efficient operation and quality of essential services such as health, education, communication, transportation, electricity, drinking water, roads, thousands of citizens have to lose not only their wealth but also their lives.
Syndicates, cartels, hoarding and artificial shortages are still in the market. Moreover, it has confirmed that the government is not sensitive to the consumer's interests by circumventing the parliament and issuing an ordinance to remove the profit and action provisions laid down in the Black Market and Some Other Social Crimes Act, 2032.
There was a provision in the law that no businessperson could take more than 20 percent profit in general according to the customs of goods and business. Taking more profit automatically attracts the Black Market Act. And, for the offense of black market, the businessman can be imprisoned for 5 years or fined or both. When the government removes this system, it is almost certain that the general public will be cheated.
There have been syndicates in transport in the country for years. As new businessmen are unable to come competitively, consumers are not able to ride vehicles with facilities. There is no noise from anywhere about the illegal import of medicines and their exorbitant prices. Even though unhealthy and substandard products are found in the market, monitoring agencies are silent. Even though the products that do not have a 'label' that discloses the quality illegally are being sold openly, it is not seen that the relevant bodies have taken the initiative to monitor and take action.
There has been a lot of talk about consumer court to speed up consumer rights and cases. It is also provided in the Consumer Protection Act 2075. About 33 laws have been enacted to protect consumer rights and interests, due to lack of effective implementation, consumers are being cheated everyday. As the chief district officer and the police were in charge of the implementation of the Black Market Act, it was somewhat effective. But by removing the profit and penalty clause in this Act, the Act has been made lull.
There is a serious question as to which direction it will direct the future market. Amended Act in the interests of limited professional organizations certainly does not serve the interests of consumers. Instead of revising the said Act over time, it is an attack on the fundamental rights granted by the Constitution to nullify the public interest law to benefit the people who work with wrong intentions.
Even the Competition Promotion and Market Protection Act 2063 has not been implemented due to the pressure of business associations, so arbitrary price fixing and cartelizing have not been controlled. It has become a matter of surprise that the government and the related regulatory bodies have remained silent despite the unnatural and artificial price increase by cartelizing cement, rods and other construction materials for a few months.
Setting the price of eggs arbitrarily, exporting edible oil unnaturally and creating a shortage in the market are the representative events of the market. In accordance with the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 2075, failure to publish the list of essential commodities, failure to set support prices for various commodities, failure to determine the market level, and the fact that farmers and consumers have been harmed in vegetables and other commodities is confirmed by the increase in the price of vegetables in the market.
In the goods and services sector, chaos is increasing day by day and due to the lack of control of the activities that are contrary to the principles of market science, regular business people have to flee. The calculations that should have been made to make the supply system of various essential commodities easy and simple, when the government fails, rice, edible oil, sugar, pulses, potatoes, and onions are always in short supply.
When monitoring and action are not effective, when punishment and reward systems are ineffective, it is felt that various goods and services related to the health of human life are declining day by day. The use of pesticides on vegetables and other products has increased in recent days.
To fully control it, it is necessary to make the food quarantine, animal quarantine laboratory proficient in time-related technology, mutual coordination between all agencies, cooperation more effectively. For easy access to necessary resources, manpower and technology for monitoring and regulating agencies, the government should reward consumers, supply, monitor, take action and reward those who do well. In order to operate the market in accordance with the rule of law and the spirit of the legal state, it is necessary to amend the Consumer Protection Act 2075 and create it as an umbrella law.
As there are problems in the market and various market-related matters through the current system, there is a problem in research and implementation, so it is necessary to establish a separate supply and consumer protection department that can coordinate with inter-agency, inter-provincial and local authorities.
Through this, business awareness, consumer education, various standards, guidelines can be created. This will help in protecting and promoting the rights of the general consumers who are being cheated through various misleading advertisements. Therefore, the main priority of the government should be consumer rights.
– Timalsina is the President of Consumer Rights Research Forum.
