Kathmandu, April 18
Major cities of Nepal including Kathmandu have witnessed a shortage of cooking gas of late as traders have reduced the supply.
Whereas the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the government-run fuel distribution monopoly, says the country has a sufficient stock of the liquified petroleum gas and traders have also purchased it sufficiently, traders have blamed the NOC for the shortage.
The corporation, however, says it does not have any crucial role in the supply as traders can directly purchase the gas from India as per the licence issued by the corporation. “It is because the traders are on a strike, and they shall be held responsible,” NOC Cooking Gas Department chief Netra Kaphle says.
Nepal LP Gas Industry Association president Kush Malli says the traders have reduced the supplies to put pressure on the corporation to increase supply fares.
“Of course, the market is impacted by a three-week-long movement,” he says.
Consumer rights activists, meanwhile, demanded that the government take action against the traders for creating an artificial shortage.
In response, the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection says it has also received some complaints about the shortage and fined three companies who were found responsible for this.
