Some traders cash in as market inspection slows

Compared to a month ago, price of Jeera Masino has increased by Rs 10 per kg to Rs 70. Similarly, price of split red gram has climbed up by Rs 25 per kg to Rs 125. Price of different varieties of rice has increased by at least Rs 2 per kg compared to a month ago. Similarly, onion, which was retailed at Rs 60 per kg a month ago, is selling for Rs 145. "Though we have witnessed disturbance in supply of food commodities in recent weeks, we have learnt that wholesalers have sufficient food in stock," Pabitra Man Bajracharya, president of Nepal Retailers Association, told Republica. "Big traders and wholesalers are trying to take undue benefits of the present situation." Not only are traders increasing price of food commodities arbitrarily, transport entrepreneurs are also charging high fare. Though the government had revised public transportation fare few weeks ago, transport entrepreneurs are charging the old rates citing fuel shortage. They are also not providing discounts to students. Similarly, tempo drivers are charging Rs 20 as minimum fare even though minimum fare is only Rs 15. Cab operators are fleecing passengers. They refuse to switch on taximeter and quote high fare. A cabbie asked Arun Kumar Poudel to pay Rs 1,200 for a trip from Bhrikuti Mandap to Balaju which used to cost around Rs 2,500. "I proposed the cabbie to pay triple the fare that the meter displays. But he refused. I had no option but to pay Rs 1,200," he added. Government agencies like Department of Commerce and Supply Management (DoCSM) and Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM), which are responsible to monitor such activities, simply say the government was committed to intensify market inspection and punish the wrong-doers. While Hari Narayan Belbase, director of DoCSM, said his department was carrying out regular monitoring, officials of NBSM said his office would soon start monitoring taxi fare.