Nepal this year enters its festival season with a blend of hope and heaviness. The bloodshed of September 8 and 9 is still fresh in our minds. In the aftermath of the movement, Nepal formed an interim government tasked with holding elections on 5 March 2026. Now, with hopes for a better future, many have returned to a new normal and left the federal capital, Kathmandu, and other major cities to celebrate festivals in their hometowns and villages. Yet soaring market prices and costly travel will follow them wherever they go.

Market prices shoot up every year during Dashain, Tihar and Chhath. This time, with government mechanisms still unable to function fully and weakened oversight following the Gen Z protests, opportunist traders and middlemen are already taking advantage of the festive season by inflating prices of essential goods. Worse, soon after people’s movement across the country increased and many were left stranded on major highways due to landslides, airlines hiked ticket prices, adding to people’s woes. Despite repeated public appeals to airline companies not to raise ticket prices during the festive season, prices are not affordable this year either. For instance, the usual one-way airfare for Kathmandu to Pokhara is Rs4,100-Rs4,700, and Kathmandu to Dhangadhi is Rs8,000, but travellers have to pay nearly Rs6,000 to reach Pokhara and over Rs13,000 for Dhangadhi.

Unscrupulous market activities are of greater concern. With an open border with India, the risk of smuggling expired food and non-food items into the country are high. As advance booking for Dashain didn’t open this year, people faced many hassles while buying tickets and also risked getting overcharged. While the Salt Trading Corporation operates 40 fair-priced shops and the Food Management and Trading Company runs 111 such outlets across the country, these shops are confined to the city’s main areas. Even in these so-called fair-priced shops, people get minimal discount, of only Rs2 on salt and Rs5 on sugar per kilo—which is nothing, really.

It is common for market prices to be influenced by international trends, but middlemen and opportunistic traders are mainly responsible for exploiting the market in Nepal. Such behaviours have made our markets more costly compared to those of similar economies. Even as the government was largely dysfunctional this time due to Gen Z protests, some efforts were made by the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection to conduct market inspection based on online and phone complaints. This is commendable. But such efforts must be carried out throughout the festival season—and beyond.

High market prices have a demoralising effort on people’s psyche, especially in times of crisis. This year’s circumstances are different: Many Gen Z protestors are still in hospital beds, thousands have lost their jobs, and many businesses have closed. It is in such times of crisis that the true character of society is revealed. Retailers, business houses and transport sectors are still hoping for an economic turnaround, and that will be hard to achieve if consumers cannot trust them. The government’s monitoring activities will remain suspended during festival holidays, but we can still hold unscrupulous dealers in our contact accountable—as is also our right (and duty) as tax-paying citizens.