Kathmandu. The Department of Commerce, Supply and Consumer Protection has expedited the implementation of the maximum retail price (MRP). The Department has expedited the implementation of the maximum retail price (MRP) and has increased monitoring from industries to big departmental stores.
The Department has started actively implementing the MRP in the recent days after the government prioritized the implementation of MRP in the 100-point agenda. The department, which did not pay much attention to the implementation of MRP before the formation of the new government, is now preparing to implement it fully. Meanwhile, industrialists have said that the government’s decision to implement MRP is not right.
Chairman of Nepal Chamber of Commerce Kamalesh Agrawal said that although the objective of MRP is to inform consumers about price, its implementation is very challenging in the current situation. According to him, as Nepal is an import-oriented economy, different goods are imported in the same container from different countries in small quantities, which creates complexity in labeling and determining MRP at the customs point.
Stating that the act of opening containers at the customs office and pasting MRP on all goods is linked to huge infrastructure and cost, he said that the current structure cannot sustain such arrangements. According to him, although the MRP is linked to the profit based on the cost of determining the MRP in Nepal, the MRP is not reliable due to lack of clarity in customs valuation, vacancy and harmony code system. According to Agrawal, although the 10-digit harmony code is used in the world, it is limited to 8 digits in Nepal and the confusion about which item falls in which category will cause more problems.
Agrawal said that the tracking of the distribution of goods across the country is not clear, there is a lack of necessary infrastructure and in such a situation, MRP cannot be applied to imported goods at once. According to him, although the intention of implementing MRP is good, there is a need to pay attention to the option of providing easy price information to the consumers in the open market economy. Otherwise, the businessmen may not be able to import the goods, which will affect the overall economic activity, he warned.
Department’s Director Narahari Tiwari said that the implementation of MRP has been prioritized by expanding the monitoring team in recent days. According to him, special monitoring is being conducted in industries, big department stores and many shop-centric places. According to him, the department has been instructing Bhatbhateni to implement MRP in all marts, hotels and restaurants, pharmacies, food, clothes, among others. Director Tiwari said that discussions are being held between the customs and importers to apply MRP on imported goods. –
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्
