Visit a local grocery store to buy cauliflower, and you fork out Rs150 for a kilogram. However, the same quantity of cauliflower costs Rs50 at the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market, the largest produce market in the country. At the same time, farmers get only around Rs10 for the vegetable, which sometimes doesn’t even cover their production and transport expenses. Such a vast price difference arises when goods and services have to pass through several market layers. In Nepal, according to a report by the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection, goods go through seven to eight layers before reaching consumers: manufacturer/producer, dealer, main distributor, local distributor, wholesaler and retailer. This adds to cost for consumers while also forcing producers to accept ultra-low prices, especially on agricultural products.

Even though Nepal enacted the Consumer Protection Act 2018 to protect consumers from unfair market practices, the spirit of the Act is yet to be internalised. Recently, however, in a bid to put a lid on market anomalies, the government has started drafting standards by forming a committee that includes the department’s director general, the private sector and other stakeholders. This team is tasked with both outlining the market layers and establishing standards for pricing systems. Doing so will clarify the roles of different market layers and standardise the pricing mechanism as well as enhance transparency and market monitoring, thereby upholding consumer rights.

Unscrupulous middlemen have long duped Nepali consumers—and the lack of standards to guide market rules has only emboldened them. Over the years, these intermediaries have been involved in black marketing, creating artificial scarcity of goods—especially daily essentials and food products during times of crisis—as well as in price-gouging. For instance, the prices soar whenever Kathmandu Valley drowns because of the monsoon rains. Natural calamities, strikes and pandemics mean a bonanza for middlemen even as farmers receive little for their produce.

Meanwhile, syndicates also hinder healthy market competition, helping a handful of sellers and middlemen maintain a monopoly. As experts suggest, Nepal can emulate markets similar to India’s ‘mandis’ across the country by helping the private sector develop them. Such markets not only foster competitive pricing but also provide farmers and buyers (wholesalers) with a direct channel to connect and trade, benefiting both parties. Moreover, greater government investment in fostering and expanding markets will also help with market regulation.

There are also concerns over the implementation of standards. This is not the first time the department has come up with drafts to standardise market prices and hold middlemen accountable. The September 8 and 9 protests have hit Nepal’s economy hard. If market prices are neither regulated nor monitored, inflation on daily essentials will only increase and thus people may cut back on their spending.

To encourage consumers to buy more and to contain inflation, the government can set maximum retail prices for essential goods. It can also ensure any profits from traders are transparent, and carry out regular monitoring. As vital is to hold unscrupulous middlemen accountable. Implementation of the standards to curb market anomalies is therefore non-negotiable if the rights of Nepali consumers are to be upheld and the economy is to be kept humming.