Protecting the rights of the consumers

In Bangladesh, the consumers are at the mercy of ruthless commercial enterprises and indifferent and corrupt public organisations who take advantage of the ignorance of the consumers and the lax law enforcement environment to exploit the poor and powerless consumers. The consumer rights bodies in Bangladesh have generally been ineffectual in alleviating the plight of the common people.

Against this generally dismal backdrop, the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) has asked the consumers to bring unscrupulous, over-profiteering traders to book under the Penal Code. According to a report published in The Business Post on Tuesday, Senior Vice-president of CAB, Professor Dr M Shamsul Alam, said "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 made the remarks at a webinar titled "Consumers victims of over-profiteering and fraud: No one pays heed to the law" arranged by the organisation on Monday.

The voice of the consumers as a stakeholder in the market is too feeble. Regarding spiking edible oil, sugar, and red lentil prices, both the government and the traders cited the increase in their prices on the international market as an excuse. Still, they could not give any acceptable explanation for the rise in rice prices as the production of the staple has been higher than its demand in the country.

The CAB Senior Vice President pointed out that unscrupulous traders are taking advantage of the current volatile global economy and making a quick buck at the expense of the consumers. He suggested that the government establish a separate consumer rights division under the Commerce Ministry because the DNCRP has failed to monitor the illegal activities properly.

Consumer rights are integral to human rights. Over the years, these rights have gained importance in safeguarding the interest of consumers from the clutches of business monopolies and trade malpractices. Protection of consumer rights is now a global agenda. Bangladesh is struggling to fulfil the basic needs of its consumers. The world's economic giants have enacted a series of laws to meet the contemporary global demand for economic progress on one side and protect the consumers from unfair, misleading, and aggressive business propaganda.

The consumer should have the right to know about the quality of the commodities they want to buy, and they should also be able to buy them at reasonable prices. Still, in Bangladesh, there is no guarantee of the product's quality or the fair price either. Neither the government nor its agencies takes responsibility for unreasonable increases in the prices of essential commodities.

Bangladesh has enacted Consumer Rights Protection Act 2009 to deal with consumer affairs. The Law is an addition to a number of around 61 relevant laws dealing with consumer rights and their protection mechanisms sporadically. Articles 15 and 18 of the Constitution of Bangladesh can be referred to as the basis of consumer protection laws. Article 15 deals with providing necessities like food, clothing, right to work, right to a reasonable wage, quantity and quality of work, social security, etc. Additionally, numerous other provisions have been enacted from time to time.

There is an urgent need for proper enforcement of the Consumers Rights Protection (CRP) Law in Bangladesh, but we do not see enough seriousness from the government.

Unfortunately, the consumer-rights protection law is still barely visible as an instrument to look after consumers' interests in the country. Protecting the rights of the consumers requires much more than the enactment of laws. Alongside updating the consumer law, we feel that all relevant actions should start in full gear to implement the relevant laws.