Consumers' protection ordn to undergo further scrutiny

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FE Report
The council of advisers at its weekly meeting Sunday agreed in principle to approve the proposed Consumers' Rights Protection Ordinance and sent back the draft of the same for further scrutiny.
Chaired by the Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, the meeting also assigned the ministries of law and commerce to place the draft ordinance again before the advisers' council within two months after thorough scrutiny.
The said ministries will see whether the punishment for offences that have been proposed in the draft ordinance comes into clash with provisions of other laws of the land, the Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Syed Fahim Monaim told a press briefing.
He also informed the newsmen that the provision for maximum three-year of imprisonment or imposition of a fine of Tk 100,000, or both had been incorporated into the draft ordinance.
Another provision for the formation of a 21-member advisory council has also been proposed in the draft ordinance. The task of the council will be to give necessary suggestions and opinions to the authorities concerned for the protection of the consumers' rights.
To be headed by a senior official of Commerce Ministry, the proposed council will also include the presidents of the country's apex trade body (FBCCI), the National Press Club and the Consumers' Association of Bangladesh (CAB), Fahim said.
The advisers' council of the interim government also approved, in principle, the proposed amendment to the existing "Securities and Exchange Ordinance, 1969", allowing the authorities concerned to extend the trade suspension of listed issues up to 45 days instead of the existing 14 days.
The meeting approved the proposal for filing an appeal to the Dutch court for the settlement of a dispute regarding the scraping of contract signed between the government of Bangladesh and the M/S Tulip Computers of the Netherlands on supply of computers to educational institutions and train the teachers in Bangladesh.
The meeting also decided that the government's current initiative to pursue a 'out of court settlement' will also be continued simultaneously with the authorities of the Tulip Computers, Fahim mentioned.