Govt promises to punish errant gold traders

KATHMANDU, JUN 14 -

The government has reiterated its commitment to punish gold dealers found guilty of cheating consumers even as they kept their shops closed for the second straight day on Thursday demanding that legal proceedings against them be withdrawn.

Narayan Prasad Bidari, director general of the Department of Commerce and Supply Management, said the government would definitely take action against the jewellers found guilty as per the law. Meanwhile, gold traders have been demanding that action should be taken only after the government introduces a separate monitoring guideline and conducts checks under it. However, Bidari has said that the government can take action against wrongdoers even without the guideline.

According to the Commerce Department, the gold dealers have violated the Consumer Rights Protection Act, Black Marketing Act and Nepal Standards Act. Bidari added that the department had prepared a separate guideline as per the traders’ demand and sent it to the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies for its study.

Bullion traders started an agitation after the government started preparations to file court cases against three jewellers—Shree Ganapati Jewellers, RB Diamonds and Tejmin Jewellers—as per the Consumer Rights Protection Act.

Two organisations of bullion traders, the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Associations and the Federation of Nepal Gold Silver Gem and Jewellery Associations, have stated that they will not resume operations until the government addresses their demands.

Market inspections carried out jointly by the Commerce Department and the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology in the last two months and lab test reports of jewellery products revealed that irregularities were rampant with regard to quality and weight. A total of 12 jewellery shops have been inspected by the government in the last two months.

Meanwhile, consumer rights organizations have also demanded sterner action against offenders. “Action must be taken against all the gold dealers as monitoring and test reports have disclosed that they have been cheating their customers,” said Jyoti Baniya, general secretary of the Forum for Protection of Consumer Rights-Nepal. He said that the ongoing protest was guided by an aim to give impunity to unscrupulous traders. As per the Consumer Rights Protection Act, those found guilty can be fined Rs 50,000 to Rs 500,000 or imprisoned from three to 15 years.

Source: The Kathmandu Post