The draft of the Consumer Protection Ordinance-2008 prepared to consolidate the rights of the customers will be sent again for approval of the advisory council next week.
A top official of the Ministry of Commerce Saturday said this as the government's planned deadline to pass the proposed Ordinance expires (tomorrow) Monday.
Commerce Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman in April announced the fresh time frame after holding a high-level meeting with senior government officials and top business leaders at the Export Promotion Bureau in the capital saying "We will complete all necessary work for the passage of the ordinance by June."
Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Feroz Ahmed told the FE Saturday: "We will finalise the draft of the ordinance later this week."
He added: "The proposed Consumer Protection Ordinance-2008 will be sent to the cabinet division next week to be produced before the advisory council for its approval."
The government stepped up its efforts to formulate the consumer protection laws amid soaring prices of essentials, caused by a global spike and speculation and hoarding by unholy traders in the country.
Absence of an effective consumer protection laws and competition rules have allowed the big traders to advantage of the situation causing untold sufferings to thousands of less affluent and poor consumers, officials of the Commerce Ministry said.
They said the proposed act, which gathered momentum in the wake of skyrocketing food prices recently, would provide the government with the necessary weapons to rein in "any abnormal price hike" in the market.
A senior Law Ministry official, who is involved with vetting the proposed ordinance, said: "There have been numerous cases of market speculation and foul plays by large and medium traders. But we could not take any action because of lack of legal tools to combat them."
Mr. Ahmed said: "Its true that in the open market economy the government cannot control prices but there should be a regulatory body to monitor and punish culprits engaged in price manipulation."
Under the proposed law, there are provisions for at least 20 types of crimes ranging from hoarding to flouting of packaging rules to over-charging for products than its maximum retail price.
Any businessmen found guilty under the proposed law could face a maximum three-year jail term and Tk0.20 million in fines. Hoarders and price manipulators would get the maximum punishment.
The proposed ordinance would specify the definition of hoarding of a particular food item and how the government will determine whether a trader was hoarding or not.
The proposed law that stipulates formation of a National Consumer Protection Rights Council to be headed by the commerce minister with representations from all the business bodies and relevant government agencies, will have branches at the district level.
Regarding the missing of the deadline, commerce secretary said: "We received huge responses after posting the proposed draft on the web site. We needed time to go through the recommendations. The law ministry is now vetting the draft."
He said the Commerce Ministry and the Law Ministry will sit again this week to scrutinise the proposed ordinance for the last time prior to dispatching it to the cabinet division.
The move to enact consumer laws was the latest in a series of failed attempts by successive governments to fight off the speculators and hoarders.
The Awami League took an initiative in 2000 to enact a law for protection of the consumers following pressure from different rights groups and political parties.
During the BNP-led government in 2004, a draft consumer protection act was prepared and then discussed at the Cabinet. But it was never sent to the parliament for debate or enactment.
