Low-quality goods and price manipulation are rampant in Nepali markets. Are the milk and butter we are buying fresh? What about rice, lentils, noodles and other goods in groceries? And are we being sold fake sneakers and jeans slapped with the labels of popular brands? Also, who among us has not been frustrated when we order one thing online and something completely different arrives? It’s frustrating. But there is hope on the horizon. Starting December, the government plans to establish a consumer court in Kathmandu to hear the consumers’ grievances and complaints against unethical market practices. The court is finally coming into being, nearly three years after a Supreme Court directive.

Consumer protection in Nepal has for long been overlooked. The Consumer Protection Act 2018 did mandate the establishment of consumer courts, but there were significant delays in its implementation. This in turn emboldened unscrupulous traders and led to the proliferation of their businesses. Meanwhile, Nepali consumers, long used to getting shoddy deals, have long since stopped complaining. But the new court will allow them to resolve even minor issues quickly and effectively within a specialised setting guided by judges who are experts in consumer law. Consumers only need a bill of goods and services to file a case and they will not have to wait long for a hearing.

But there is also bad news. This service is only limited to the federal capital, Kathmandu, which will initially hear cases from Lalitpur, Kathmandu and Bhaktapur. Plans are underway for an extension to other districts and provinces, but officials fear lack of adequate budget and bureaucratic hurdles may hinder such an expansion. Some local units have acted against malpractices and punished businesspersons who cheat on customers, but these initiatives are insufficient. What we really need is a nationwide network of consumer courts.

Last fiscal year alone, the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control filed 178 cases in the District Administration Office, Kathmandu. These cases were related to processed drinking water, food items, lentils, sweet items, oil and ghee, milk and dairy items, and spices. The department recorded many cases of substandard products produced by major brands like Bhat-Bhateni food products, Dabur Nepal, CG Oil and Derivatives and Pokhara Noodles. These businesses were found to be flouting Nepal’s consumer laws and compromising people’s health. Consumer protection provisions were thus due.

Now that the country is embarking on the journey of establishing consumer courts, there should be no further delays. Expansion of the courts beyond the confines of Kathmandu Valley should not be a big problem too. We hear of large chunks of budgets of all three levels of government in Nepal going unspent every single year. What better way to spend the money than in ensuring that people get value for their money—at a time unjustified price hikes and selling of fakes is giving them a lot of headache? This is why United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection recognise the “access to and availability dispute resolution and redress mechanism as a basic need of consumers”. That is also among people’s basic rights as taxpayers.