Nepali gov't bans pyramid-style business

Nepali government has finally imposed a ban on network marketing business, ending a long-running marketing scam of Unity Life International (ULI) that cheated hundreds of thousands of Nepalis for years.

It also annulled Directives on Network Marketing of Commodities with immediate effect on Sunday, and issued a notice asking all the firms involved in faulty commission-based pyramid-style network business to immediately stop operations.

The Department of Commerce had issued the directives allowing network marketing on commodities two months ago.

"Given the poor level of consumer awareness, poverty and undue maneuvering by cunning marketers, it is not appropriate to let the business to run just on the basis of directives. Hence, we have decided to impose a blanket ban on the business," Finance Minister Surendra Pandey told Monday's myrepublica.com.

The government has decided to scrap the registration of ULI and suspend all its operations. "Ministry of Finance (MoF) has already instructed the Company Registrar's Office to implement the government decision through the Ministry of Industry," said an MoF official.

This action has been taken in order to facilitate further investigations into the scam, dig out its fixed assets and investments and take action against it, elaborated the official.

According to the report, ULI was engaged in illicit network marketing business and had raked in billions of rupees from 650, 000 people selling them social security schemes without due authorization over the last four years.

"Written instructions have been sent to all related regulatory bodies for actions from their respective sides," said Minister Pandey.

Source:Xinhua