Festival Season Inflation and Artificial Shortages: Stop Playing With Citizens’ Kitchens

As Dashain, Tihar and Chhath approach, the familiar pattern of price hikes, artificial shortages and inflated charges justified in the name of supply disruption is once again becoming a serious concern in Nepal. The recent national disaster and road blockages have created genuine difficulties in transportation and supply. But turning those difficulties into an opportunity for excessive profit is not legitimate business. It is exploitation of citizens at a time of vulnerability.

The government must take seriously the price pressure ordinary people are already feeling on essential goods such as rice, lentils, cooking oil, vegetables and liquefied petroleum gas. A road closure cannot justify overnight price increases on goods that had been stored in warehouses for weeks or months. If transport costs have genuinely risen, the increase must be transparent and verifiable. Consumers cannot be forced to pay arbitrary prices based on excuses.

The reported practice of adding extra transport charges to cooking gas beyond the official price raises an even more fundamental question about market regulation. Who has the authority to determine consumer prices: the state or private business associations? If traders can simply decide that their costs have increased and pass the entire burden directly to consumers, then the purpose of official price regulation becomes meaningless.

The state must also recognize genuine difficulties faced by businesses. When roads are blocked, alternative routes may be longer, transport expenses may rise and delivery systems may become more difficult. But the answer cannot be to immediately transfer every additional cost to the consumer. The government should independently assess the increase, provide temporary transport support where necessary and prevent unauthorized price hikes.

Market monitoring in Nepal has too often become a seasonal ritual performed only before major festivals. Teams visit a few shops, inspect price lists, seize expired goods, impose limited fines and then declare the campaign complete. Such actions have not created lasting market discipline. The purpose of monitoring should not be to generate publicity. It should be to identify where and why prices rise across the supply chain.

The government should maintain a transparent digital record from importers to wholesalers, distributors, transporters and retailers. It must know how much old stock remains, at what price new goods were imported, how much transport costs have actually increased and what level of final retail adjustment, if any, is justified. Without such a system, the phrase “market-determined price” can easily become a shield for consumer exploitation.

Artificial shortages are even more serious. Creating rumours that essential goods are unavailable, hiding stock in warehouses, releasing it later at higher prices or encouraging panic buying should be treated as serious market abuse. The supply of basic commodities is not a minor commercial issue. It is a matter of public welfare and economic stability.

Low- and middle-income families face the greatest pressure during festival periods because household expenses naturally rise. If the prices of food, cooking gas, transport and other basic services also increase abnormally, the impact falls hardest on those who can least absorb it. Inflation is not merely an economic statistic. It means less food on someone’s table, reduced spending on children or money intended for medicine being diverted to basic groceries.

Consumers also have a responsibility to act carefully. Panic buying based on unverified rumours can create artificial demand and indirectly support hoarding and black marketing. But the final responsibility lies with the state. The government has both the authority and the obligation to maintain confidence in the market, ensure supply and prevent unjustified price increases.

The government now faces a clear choice. It can repeat the old pattern of launching market inspections only when Dashain is at the doorstep, or it can begin monitoring imports, stock levels, transport costs and retail prices immediately.

Citizens do not feel relief through speeches. They feel it when essential goods remain available at fair prices. No crisis, disaster or festival should be used as an excuse to make the public’s kitchen more expensive. Markets may be free, but no one should be free to exploit consumers.