Cigarettes disappear from market as budget nears
KATHMANDU, JUN 29
Cigarettes routinely disappear from the market just before the annual budget is due as sellers stock up to beat the predictable hike in taxes.
With the fiscal year coming to a close and the budget for 2015-16 about to be released, a shortage of tobacco products and black marketing has begun, said shopkeepers.
The owner of Khushbu Kirana Store, a retail shop in Tinkune, said retailers had not been getting adequate stocks of cigarettes since mid-June. “We have to wait for three to four days to buy a carton of cigarettes or pay more,” said Jitu Sah.
As in the past, the government is likely to announce its annual budget for the next
fiscal year by mid-July. In almost every budget announcement, the government has been raising the excise duty on products like alcohol, cigarette and other tobacco products. According to traders, taxes were hiked last year which led to cigarettes becoming dearer by Rs8-10 per packet. “Due to the high possibility of prices increasing, distributors and wholesalers have already started charging more,” said Sah, adding people were being forced to pay Rs150 for a packet of Surya while the actual price is only Rs141. According to him, Surya and Pilot are the popular cigarette brands among consumers.
A large number of complaints to the Hello Sarkar hotline has prompted the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to show concern at the shortage and black marketing. The PMO has written to the Commerce Department to conduct market monitoring and take action as necessary. But Hari Narayan Belbase, director of the department, said they had told the PMO to write to the Inland Revenue Office instead.
“As issues related to tax evasion and the budget are out of our purview, we have replied to the PMO’s letter accordingly,” said Belbase, adding the department did not have information about the supply chain or whereabouts of the warehouses either.
Meanwhile, the Inland Revenue Department said that they had not received any complaint till now.
Hardware shop sealed for overcharging
The Departme-nt of Commerce and Supply Management on Sunday sealed Sagar Enterprises, a hardware shop in Balaju, for overcharging on corrugated zinc sheets. According to the department, the shop was found charging Rs660 more than the company’s published rate. Hari Narayan Belbase, director of the department, said they handed over the shop’s proprietor Bal Krishna Shr- estha to the Balaju Police with the recommendation to initiate legal proceedings under Black Marketing and Some Other Social Offenses and Punishment Act 1975. He said Shrestha had been selling Hulas zinc sheets at Rs6,700 per 50-kg bundle when the company price is only Rs6,040. The department has taken action against nine hardware shops for overcharging customers on zinc sheets since the April 25 earthquake when demand for these roofing sheets jumped due to the large number of people made homeless. Among the hardware shops that were booked, two were from Nuwakot, three from Dhad-ing, one from Kavrepal-anchok and one from Chuchchepati and two from Balaju, Kathmandu . (PR)
Source: The Kathmandu Post
