Consumers say vegetables have become increasingly expensive despite the fall in wholesale prices. Many complain that spending over Rs1,000 on vegetables does not meet household needs for more than two or three days.
“I bought two kilos of cauliflower, two kilos of cabbage and one kilo of carrot, which cost me nearly Rs700,” said Madan Bidari, a vegetable buyer in Kalanki on Friday morning.
Bidari, who works in the private sector, said tomatoes routinely cost him over Rs100 per kg. “Onion prices are always on the high side,” he added.
Consumer rights activists say the failure of local governments to carry out regular market inspections has left consumers exposed to inflated prices of essential goods. They argue this reflects an absence of effective state intervention to protect consumers.
“Despite the Local Government Operation Act, 2017 and the Consumer Protection Act, 2018 clearly mandating market inspections and even allocating budgets for this purpose at the local level, local governments do not seem serious about doing their duties,” said Prem Lal Maharjan, president of the National Consumer Forum. “This negligence has directly hit consumers’ pockets.”
The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection, meanwhile, lacks the manpower and resources to conduct market inspections across all local governments.
“Two years ago, we filed complaints with the Prime Minister’s Office, the Home Ministry and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, citing the failure of local governments to conduct market inspections,” Maharjan said.
Following the complaint, the home ministry issued a circular instructing rural municipalities to conduct market inspections at least once a month, municipalities three times a month, sub-metropolitan cities once a week and metropolitan cities daily.
However, no local government has been effectively conducting market inspections, which is why price gaps and distortions continue to grow, according to consumer rights activists.
Wholesale prices of most vegetables—including tomato, potato, carrot, cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, cowpea, French bean, sword bean, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, squash and green leafy vegetables—have declined over the past month. Yet even seasonal vegetables are selling for more than Rs100 per kg in retail markets.
Activists also blame the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market Development Board for failing to regulate prices. According to rules, the board needs to take necessary initiatives to control market prices.
