Though, secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers Krishna Hari Baskota today directed the officials of Department of Commerce and Supply Management to act tough against firms and individuals involved in market malpractices, the syndicate, cartel and black marketeering has been on rise in recent days making the common people pay the price.
He also urged the market monitors to take stern action against firms and individually involved in arbitrary price fixation, hoarding, adulteration, using unhygienic colours and raw materials in food, and selling substandard products.
Asking the market inspectors to punish on the spot to make market monitoring more effective, Baskota also praised the department for its role in controlling market malpractices.
Despite the department has monitored the market for 1,298 times and district level for 320 times in the current fiscal year, the consumers have yet been forced to pay for substandard products and services.
Director general of the department Narayan Bidari, on the occasion, said that the department has planned to monitor the market for 20,510 times.