CAB for criminal cases against price manipulators

The Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) has asked the consumers to bring unscrupulous, over-profiteering traders to book under the Penal Code.

Senior Vice-president of CAB, Professor Dr M Shamsul Alam, made the remarks at a virtual webinar titled “Consumers victims of over-profiteering and fraud: No one pays heed to the law” arranged by the organisation on Monday.

“Despite regular drives from the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) and numerous governmental monitoring bodies, unscrupulous traders and businesses are manipulating the commodity price through different syndicates,” he said.

“These businesses are reaping the benefit of the current volatile global economy, said Senior Vice-president of CAB, Professor Dr M Shamsul Alam, at a webinar.

He further mentioned, “As DNCRP is proving to be futile to monitor and bring about the increasing amount of illegal activities in this sector, this is high time that the government designate a separate consumer rights division under the Commerce Ministry.”

Syed Mizanur Rahman Raju, organisational secretary of CAB, moderated the webinar while CAB General Secretary Adv Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan made the welcoming remarks. The Vice-president of CAB, SM Nazer Hossain, made the keynote speech.

He said: “DNCRP and all governmental administrative bodies are making regular drives across the country to mitigate the price manipulation and stop the over-profiteering traders. However, all of these efforts are proving to be in vain to end these illegal activities.”

DNCRP and the Commerce Ministry’s existing doctrines are not enough to ensure consumers’ rights. The sector needs to be monitored under a separate ministry, said speakers from CAB said at the webinar.

“Least the Commerce ministry can do is to create a separate division under them to mitigate the volatility of the domestic market. If the government does not pay heed to us, we will take to the streets,” said Professor Shamsul Alam.