Almost three years after the Supreme Court’s ruling, Nepal’s first consumer court—a specialised court that handles consumer complaints and grievances—is anticipated to start hearing cases in Kathmandu in December.
Judge Ram Prasad Sharma of the Kathmandu District Court was suggested by the Judicial Council on Sunday to preside over the consumer court.Under-secretary Gehendra Raj Regmi has been nominated a member. The Consumer Court will be set up inside the Department of Drug Administration premises in Babarmahal. Baniya, one member of the committee formed to implement Nepal’s top court order to form consumer courts, said if things go as planned, the court may start hearing cases from December 1.
The Consumer Protection Act-2018 requires the government to establish a consumer court. Based on this provision, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies submitted a legislation draft to the law ministry in September 2019, which then forwarded it to the Judicial Council. As the process was delayed, the Supreme Court, on February 20, 2022, ordered the government to establish consumer courts in all provinces to protect buyers’ interests amid repeated cases of unfair market practices.
A division bench of justices Bam Kumar Shrestha and Nahakul Subedi issued the order after the Forum for Protection of Consumer Rights Nepal moved the court. Industry ministry officials, however, said setting up a consumer court in a province would be impractical, as people would still have to travel long distances to present their cases. The ministry then decided to gradually set up consumer courts in each district, after piloting it in Kathmandu.
The process, however, has been delayed due to frequent government changes. Last fiscal year’s budget announced the formation of a consumer court in Kathmandu on a trial basis and allocated Rs10 million for the purpose. A consumer court is a specialised court which primarily deals with consumer-related disputes, conflicts, and grievances. The court holds hearings to adjudicate these issues.
The public has long been demanding consumer courts to bring unscrupulous traders under a legal framework within a fast-track system. Observers say that as consumers do not want to get involved in complex court cases, particularly at the Supreme Court, unscrupulous traders have been emboldened. They believe that once consumer courts are established, filing complaints will become easier and hassles will be minimised.
The presence of the consumer courts is expected to have a big impact on the control of food adulteration, artificial shortages, and price manipulation. Consumers now face difficulty accessing water, energy, telecoms, and financial services despite paying for them. Besides, as Nepal’s e-commerce grows, consumer fraud has become more prevalent.
Baniya said the consumer courts would also ensure fast, faceless, paperless, and right compensation for the victims in consumer cases. “Once the consumer court comes into operation, the consumer with the bill of goods and services can file a case in the dedicated court,” said Baniya. “The consumer will not have to wait for a hearing date as the process will move swiftly.”
He said a similar case might take 2–3 years or more in regular courts. Consumer-related cases have been growing, especially in a state of political instability. The number of cases has risen since Nepal adopted digitisation, particularly in e-commerce.
In the last fiscal year, the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control filed 178 cases in the District Administration Office, a quasi-judicial authority. Out of 178 cases, 45 concerned processed drinking water, 29 were related to food items and lentils, 22 to sweet items and confectionery, 18 to oil and ghee, 16 to milk and dairy items, and nine to spices.
In the review period, the department seized and destroyed edible goods worth Rs11.64 million as the products were found to have expired and were without proper labels. The destroyed products included food items, beer, dalmoth, chips, meat spices, cheese balls, refined flour, suji, juice, pickles, light beverage drinks, and edible oil, and other edible products.
In the last fiscal year, the department filed a case against Dugar Spices and Food Products, Budiganga, in Morang District Court for producing low-quality spices, and against Bhat-Bhateni Food Products, Kathmandu, in Kathmandu District Court for producing low-quality lentils. The department filed a case against Dabur Nepal, Bara, in Kathmandu District Court for producing adulterated honey and against CG Oil and Derivatives, Birgunj, in Makwanpur District Court for producing low-quality edible oil.
Likewise, a case was lodged against Varun Beverage, Ramgram, in Nawalparasi District Court for adulterated drink. The District Court, Kaski, filed a case against Pokhara Noodles for selling low-quality noodles. CG Foods, Devchuli, was also dragged into Nawalpur District Court for low-quality ready-made noodles.
Source: Here
