Customers hit hard as jewellery shops keep shutters down
KATHMANDU, APR 25 -
Customers have been hit hard as irate jewellery traders continued their protest against the government’s market monitoring drive, shutting their shops for the second day on Wednesday.
Gold dealers have vowed not to return to business until the government assures “not to terrorise the field in the name of market inspection.” They said that the government’s monitoring should only be conducted based on the standard mechanism also including export in the ream from related sector.
Ramesh Maharjan, president of the Nepal Gold, Silver, Gems and Jewellery Federation, insisted they were not against the market monitoring but said that the way the government treated the dealers and oppressed the sector through monitoring was wrong. “The shops have remained closed for two days as dealers are terrified,” he added.
Meanwhile, bullion dealers have claimed that demand for gold has shot up to around 50 kg a day from a normal demand of 30 kg. However, closure of jewellery shops and limited supply of gold has hit the customers, with many of them who reached the New Road area on Wednesday to take delivery of their placed orders had to return home empty handed.
A government monitoring team on Monday had inspected three jewellery shops in the New Road area and seized unapproved weighting equipment. During the raid, the team also found some bullion traders cheating customers in weight and in quality of jewellery items.
Most of the shops that remained closed belong to members of the Nepal Gold, Silver, Gems and Jewellery Federation. Some shops belonging to members of another organisation of jewellers, Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Associations (Fenegosida) also remained closed despite claims that all shops would be open.
“Shops located in the New Road area remained closed. However, jewellery shops in other places were open,” said Manik Ratna Shakya, general secretary of Fenegosida. He said that they were not against the government’s inspection but had shut down shops for fear of negative consequences.
Fenegosida urged the government take action against those dealers who were found cheating customers while ensuring peaceful environment to operate business.
The government is preparing to file cases against the jewellers under the Consumer Rights Protection Act, while giving continuity to the market monitoring drive. Similarly, a report from the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology has concluded that jewellery items of the inspected shops “are not pure,” and the bureau is also preparing to take action against those dealers for using faulty weighing tools.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
