onsumers in Nepal face numerous issues related to safety hazards and compromised quality of goods and services. In addition, certain market practices such as price collusion and unfair competition negatively affect consumers. Despite the existence of legal protection of consumer rights, civil society organizations have labeled Nepal’s consumer protection system as unsatisfactory, due to the lack of implementation of the named legal rules. As a result, lobbying efforts concentrate on the introduction of consumer rights in the Constitution during the current constitution drafting process, on the creation of consumer courts and on the enforcement of the existing legal provisions.
The impetus towards consumer protection at the international level crystallized with the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection, enacted in 1985 and reviewed in 1999. These guidelines were devised with the objectives of helping countries in the establishment of adequate consumer protection systems and of increasing ethical treatment of consumers and collaboration at the international level. This text deals with eight fields, namely, physical well being, safeguard of the economic interests of consumers, quality and safety standards, logistics to dispense basic products and services, mechanisms for compensation, consumer education, encouragement of sustainable use of resources and specific policies regarding water, foodstuff and medicines. The guidelines find that global problems such as environmental deterioration and poverty are linked with consumer issues, since non-sustainable consumption and unfair market practices contribute to fuel such problems. Therefore, the guidelines attempt to tackle not only the conditions of individual consumers, but also related global concerns.
The publication of the UN Guidelines encouraged the constitutionalization of consumer rights in several countries. However, in Nepal such protections are not found at the constitutional level. Like the 1990 Constitution, the Interim Constitution, 2007 does not include a specific rule regarding consumer rights. Still, there are some provisions that relate to consumer issues in the Interim text. Article 33 determines that the State has a duty to promote the rights to health, employment, housing, education and “food sovereignty.” Also, the government must play an active role in encouraging economic development and socio-economic progress. In addition, one of the directive principles enshrined in the constitution is the fostering of welfare in the economic, political and social realms. The right to demand information from public authorities also has implications for consumers. As a result of the lack of a specific provision to protect consumers, civil society actors are demanding the institution of constitutionally protected consumer rights in the upcoming constitution.
Despite the lack of explicitly recognized constitutional rights, consumers are protected at the statutory level. The Consumer Protection Act, 2054 (1998) is the relevant legal provision on consumer law in Nepal. The Act states the scope of its application by defining concepts such as “unfair trade practices,” which include those sales to consumers that rely on deceptive information about the products; “sub-standard consumer goods” and “consumer.” Interestingly, the definition of consumer under the act covers both individuals and institutions, as long as they “us[e] any consumer good or service.” The Act also establishes the creation of a Consumer Protection Council, outlines the rights that consumers enjoy in Nepal, delineates the role of the government in their implementation, governs unfair competition practices and sets standards for quality and labeling.
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Laws Protecting Consumers in Nepal
By Aurora Sanchez Palacio
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