KATHMANDU: Nepali entrepreneurs have been forced to pay exorbitant fare for importing goods from China through Rasuwa checkpoint due to coronavirus-induced heath protocol.
A Nepali trader has to pay up to Rs 900,000 in fare per container van for transporting goods from Kerung to Rasuwa, which is only a 26-km-long road section.
A normal fare for this road section was Rs 2,000 to 2,500 per container van, according to Siddhi Basnet, a trader from Sindhupalchowk.
Chinese business agents have unilaterally hiked the fare since Nepali traders are not allowed to enter China to load their goods due to coronavirus infections.
There are only two checkpoints for importing goods from China via land route – Kerung-Rasuwa and Tatopani checkpoint. Tatopani checkpoint has been shut down after infection cases spiked in Nepal.
The Tatopani checkpoint which had remained shut since July 9 due to floods and landslides had resumed last Monday. But it soon was closed again after the staffers assigned to load and onload goods were infected.
Entrepreneurs complain that the Nepal government is not taking any initiation to reduce the transportation fare. According to Rasuwa Custom Office Chief Punya Bikram Khadka, 10 container vans enter Nepal via Rasuwa checkpoint now-a-days while this number goes as many as 30 during normal days.
Khadka said, these days, Rs 10 million is collected in revenue per day. “Previously, Rs 20 million used to be collected on a daily basis,” he said.
According to Nepali traders, around, 1,200 Nepali container vans have been stuck in China.
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