The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection has penalized state-owned Salt Trading Corporation Rs 300,000 for failing to furnish verified sugar inventory records and obstructing regulatory monitoring. The market regulator levied the penalty under unfair trading provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2018, marking the first time the ministry-level apparatus has taken punitive action against a public enterprise under its own supervision.
According to department spokesperson Anil Kiranti, officials could not cross-check daily transactions and physical stocks because the enterprise failed to present its ledgers during an inspection. The penalty order, addressed to Prajjwal Man Pradhan, requires the corporation to pay the fine into a designated revenue account within seven days or face escalated action. The public distributor has acknowledged receipt of the notice.
Under statutory rules, the corporation has the option to appeal the decision to the department's director general within seven days by depositing a 50 percent bond of Rs 150,000 at Nepal Rastra Bank. The intervention follows intense scrutiny over domestic food supplies after sugar retail prices rose to Rs 170 per kilogram amid artificial scarcity concerns.
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The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection has penalized Salt Trading Corporation Rs 300,000 after the public enterprise failed to produce inventory ledgers for its sugar stocks during an inspection.
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