Kathmandu metropolis, in a bid to curb market anomalies, has intensified market monitoring in the city.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) on Friday organised a meeting to discuss the issue of market monitoring. Later the same day, it decided to inspect the market throughout the year as occasional monitorings were not effective.

KMC in June last year formed an inspection committee led by Deputy Mayor Hari Prabha Khadki but the team was inactive after some weeks of its formation.

The municipal office has activated the committee for monitoring the market after receiving complaints from customers in the festive time regarding the price of goods, and quality of food products and other essential goods sold in the market.

According to Deputy Mayor Khadgi, the committee was active only occasionally. “KMC has attached priority to it as it is a matter of public interest. Now the committee will inspect the market around the year and if we find anomalies during inspection, they will be punished as per the law,” Khadgi said at a meeting on Friday.

Market monitoring has been regulated in all the wards of Kathmandu. According to the KMC, a majority of the shops and enterprises in Kathmandu do not meet the government’s minimum standards. “In a recent inspection of the market by the committee, there were seven mismatches among the 10 minimum standards set by the government,” said Dipak Pokhrel, a committee member.

The KMC monitoring team comprises the representatives of the District Administration Office, the Supply Management Department, Food Technology and Quality Control Department, Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology, Metropolitan Police, the Central Animal Quarantine Office, Veterinary Public-Health Office and the Consumer Protection Forum.

After the meeting on Friday, the committee immediately inspected shops near Sundhara and found that a majority of them had issues regarding the cleanliness, registration and renewal of shops, and |the quality of goods. “This time, we have given them a chance to improve but from next time they will be punished,” said Hari Bahadur Bhandari, chief of the Livestock Service Department.

The Consumer Welfare Protection Act provisions fines in case any firm is found to be breaching the law. The inspection officer can impose a fine of Rs 5,000 to Rs 300,000 maximum if the producer of goods, transporters, importers, sellers or service providers are found at fault on the basis of spot evidence in the course of market monitoring, inspection, checking or searching.

The Consumer Protection Act-1998 protects consumers from irregularities concerning the quality, quantity and prices of consumer goods or services and misleading propaganda regarding the use and usefulness of consumer goods or services.