KATHMANDU, JUN 12 - Gold and Silver traders on Wednesday launched an ‘indefinite shutdown’ of their shops to pressure the government not to take action against three bullion traders who were found cheating consumers in weight and quality.
The government is preparing to file a court case against Shree Ganapati Jewellers, Tejmin Jewellers and RB Diamonds which were found involved in the misconduct during a joint inspection carried out by the Department of Commerce and Supplies Management and Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM). The department has filed a charge sheet at the office of the public prosecutor.
The government has made it clear that those found guilty would be brought to book at any cost. “They are shutting down their shops to save those who are cheating consumers and those found guilty during the government’s inspection,” said Lal Mani Joshi, secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supply. “But the government will not shy away from taking legal action against the guilty.”
Joshi said the District Administration Office district concerned could initiate action if the traders continue their strike. However, two gold traders’ organisations — Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association (Fenegosida) and Federation of Nepal Gold Silver Gem and Jewellery Associations — have joined forces to save those found cheating consumers.
The traders have argued that the government should not monitor the bullion business in the absence of a standard monitoring guideline as “it is a special type of business”. “The monitoring carried out without any standard rule have terrorised jewellers,” said Manik Ratna Shakya, general secretary of Fenegosida. He said jewellers would not open their shops until the government brings a proper directive to regulate the jewellery market.
As a part of the protest, Fenegosida did not fix the bullion price for Wednesday and jewellers stopped buying gold from banks.
The Consumer Protection Act 1998 has authorised the government to conduct necessary investigation and inspection or make arrangement for doing so in case there are reasonable grounds to believe that any person is engaging in any unfair trading activity to adversely affect the rights and interests of consumers.
Two monitoring had found Shree Ganapati Jewellers and RB Diamonds using weighing machines without government certification. The NBSM lab reports of the samples collected from these shops revealed they had been selling low quality gold and silver products.
As per the lab test report, a sample of gold earring collected from Shree Ganapati only had 97 percent purity against the shop’s claim of 99.50 percent (24 caret), while its silver payal contained led.
Silver products of RB Diamond and Tejmin Jewellers had mixture of copper and cadmium, respectively, according to the report. RB Diamonds was found selling silver bowl that contained 2 percent copper, and Tejmin’s silver product has as much as 7.07 percent cadmium.
The department and the NBSM have so far inspected 12 jewellery stores, including famous Riddhi Siddhi Jewellers, Shalimar Jewellers and Gitanjali Jewellers, among others. Other jewellery shops that were inspected are Bhairav Jewellery, New Kumari Jewellers and Handicraft, New Shakya Abhushan Shop.
The commerce department has said it will take action against each jeweller based on the nature of their misconduct. “Jewellers whose shops were monitored are being called for taking statement,” said Narayan Prasad Bidari, director general at the commerce department. He said a charge sheet for filing court cases against some more guilty dealers is being readied.
Meanwhile, a delegation of jewellers led by the Fenegosida President Mani Ratna Shakya on Tuesday called on Finance Minister Shankar Prasad Koirala and demanded a “hi-tech mechanism” and “special workforce” to carry out inspection of jewellery shops.
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