Protecting the rights of consumers

In Bangladesh there is a crying need for proper enforcement of Consumers Rights Protection (CPR) Law, but we hardly see any seriousness from the government for it. Against this backdrop, it is good to know that administrative officials and business leaders at a discussion in Rajshahi emphasized the need for proper enforcement of the CRP Law. The Department of National Consumer Rights Protection and District Administration jointly organised this to mark the World Consumers Rights Day-2017. But mere expression of a good sentiment would not be of any help unless it is translated into action.
The extant Consumers Rights Protection Act 2009 exists only in paper; there is no implementation of it: it could not protect the consumers’ rights. It would be hardly an overstatement to say that Bangladesh is a place where unscrupulous businessmen can get away with anything. It was never a consumers’ market. Traders here dictate terms for the consumers. They with their sweet will increase the price of a certain product or item forming syndicates. The Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) and similar other organisations often raised concern in this regard, yet their voices are ignored.
Here an aggrieved consumer cannot go directly to a magistrate for seeking justice. About some time ago, an initiative was underway to reform the extant law, accordingly a draft law was made but it is still not clear why the draft law was not passed yet.  In Bangladesh a consumer is in many ways cheated. Here the trader can  not only fleece the consumer through increasing a product’s price, he also gives lesser weight than what the consumer actually deserves. If a consumer protests this on the spot, he can hardly expect to become successful in this regard, because businessmen in general are corrupt in this regard. That is why it is a very pressing need to make our market consumer-friendly. There are also opportunists in every business, everywhere. Suppose, you want to go from a hospital at the city’s Panthapath area with a patient to Mohammadpur hiring an ambulance, you have to pay Tk 1000 for it, sometime even more than that.
There is hardly any area of business where you are not cheated. Yet this is how the country is going on. For improving the situation, it is the government that has to come forward first in aid of helpless consumers, in cases through reforming the law where necessary. The businessmen as a whole have to be brought under the government’s market monitoring and accountability system.     

 

Protecting the rights of consumers

In Bangladesh there is a crying need for proper enforcement of Consumers Rights Protection (CPR) Law, but we hardly see any seriousness from the government for it. Against this backdrop, it is good to know that administrative officials and business leaders at a discussion in Rajshahi emphasized the need for proper enforcement of the CRP Law. The Department of National Consumer Rights Protection and District Administration jointly organised this to mark the World Consumers Rights Day-2017. But mere expression of a good sentiment would not be of any help unless it is translated into action. The extant Consumers Rights Protection Act 2009 exists only in paper; there is no implementation of it: it could not protect the consumers rights. It would be hardly an overstatement to say that Bangladesh is a place where unscrupulous businessmen can get away with anything. It was never a consumers market. Traders here dictate terms for the consumers. They with their sweet will increase the price of a certain product or item forming syndicates. The Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) and similar other organisations often raised concern in this regard, yet their voices are ignored. Here an aggrieved consumer cannot go directly to a magistrate for seeking justice. About some time ago, an initiative was underway to reform the extant law, accordingly a draft law was made but it is still not clear why the draft law was not passed yet. In Bangladesh a consumer is in many ways cheated. Here the trader can not only fleece the consumer through increasing a products price, he also gives lesser weight than what the consumer actually deserves. If a consumer protests this on the spot, he can hardly expect to become successful in this regard, because businessmen in general are corrupt in this regard. That is why it is a very pressing need to make our market consumer-friendly. There are also opportunists in every business, everywhere. Suppose, you want to go from a hospital at the citys Panthapath area with a patient to Mohammadpur hiring an ambulance, you have to pay Tk 1000 for it, sometime even more than that. There is hardly any area of business where you are not cheated. Yet this is how the country is going on. For improving the situation, it is the government that has to come forward first in aid of helpless consumers, in cases through reforming the law where necessary. The businessmen as a whole have to be brought under the governments market monitoring and accountability system.