Consumers expecting a fair deal
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
CONSUMERS have been always at the receiving end in this country that is widely considered a sellers' market. Traders, utility service providers, health services etc., in both public or private sectors, can easily get away with their crimes that cause financial as well as physical injuries to general consumers or subscribers. A section of unscrupulous producers and traders have formed an unholy alliance to market adulterated food items, spurious medicines, fake and substandard goods. The quality of the service provided by various utility agencies has been extremely poor. Yet the people have to remain dependent on them in the absence of alternatives.
For the last couple of years or so, there have been some limited administrative actions mainly against food adulteration in urban areas. Such actions have produced some results, no doubt. But the propensity among Bangladeshi producers and manufacturers to indulge in unethical practices and earn more than usual profit is very strong. The absence of tough laws, government surveillance agencies and non-governmental consumers' rights protection organizations has made the climate rather favourable for continuation of unethical business practices. Traders have been caught red handed while using toxic chemicals on food items, such as fish and fruits. They are, knowingly or unknowingly, are hazarding the physical safety of consumers.
There were some definitive moves during the immediate past government to enact a consumers' protection law and several drafts of the proposed law were prepared and placed before council of ministers that in 2002 and 2204 agreed in principle to adopt the law. Hundreds of laws were drafted by relevant ministries, placed before the cabinet and passed by the parliaments formed since 1991 but this act got stuck up in the cobweb of bureaucratic and political nexus for mysterious reasons and was never adopted. The influential business quarters might have played their part to delay the adoption of this piece of legislation that would hurt their interests. However, the council of advisers of the present interim administration in its regular weekly meeting held last Sunday agreed in principle to adopt an ordinance in this respect. However, the council has sent back the draft of the ordinance to the ministries of law and commerce for further scrutiny and removal of inconsistencies and contradictions, if there is any, and place the same before it within two months.
The council might have rightly sent the draft for further scrutiny but the time suggested for such scrutiny appears to be a bit long. It is expected that the interim administration would not follow the footsteps of its political predecessors and delay the adoption of the much-awaited law. One does not expect the situation to change on the ground radically with the passage of the law, for the intended outcome of a law largely depends on its proper enforcement-the area where country's scorecard has been rather poor. But the consumers' protection law is particularly important for the reason that the aggrieved consumers, if not the government, would be able to seek legal redress under its provisions individually or in groups. The draft law has, reportedly, proposed the formation of an advisory council. The earlier drafts proposed the formation of a consumers' protection council with the objective of filling up both legal and institutional vacuum in the matters of protecting the over-exploited consumers. Since the draft has not been made public, its details are not yet known. However, because of the very nature and goals of the present interim administration, consumers would like to believe that their rights and welfare would be protected well under the proposed ordinance and the wrongdoers would get what they deserve.
For the last couple of years or so, there have been some limited administrative actions mainly against food adulteration in urban areas. Such actions have produced some results, no doubt. But the propensity among Bangladeshi producers and manufacturers to indulge in unethical practices and earn more than usual profit is very strong. The absence of tough laws, government surveillance agencies and non-governmental consumers' rights protection organizations has made the climate rather favourable for continuation of unethical business practices. Traders have been caught red handed while using toxic chemicals on food items, such as fish and fruits. They are, knowingly or unknowingly, are hazarding the physical safety of consumers.
There were some definitive moves during the immediate past government to enact a consumers' protection law and several drafts of the proposed law were prepared and placed before council of ministers that in 2002 and 2204 agreed in principle to adopt the law. Hundreds of laws were drafted by relevant ministries, placed before the cabinet and passed by the parliaments formed since 1991 but this act got stuck up in the cobweb of bureaucratic and political nexus for mysterious reasons and was never adopted. The influential business quarters might have played their part to delay the adoption of this piece of legislation that would hurt their interests. However, the council of advisers of the present interim administration in its regular weekly meeting held last Sunday agreed in principle to adopt an ordinance in this respect. However, the council has sent back the draft of the ordinance to the ministries of law and commerce for further scrutiny and removal of inconsistencies and contradictions, if there is any, and place the same before it within two months.
The council might have rightly sent the draft for further scrutiny but the time suggested for such scrutiny appears to be a bit long. It is expected that the interim administration would not follow the footsteps of its political predecessors and delay the adoption of the much-awaited law. One does not expect the situation to change on the ground radically with the passage of the law, for the intended outcome of a law largely depends on its proper enforcement-the area where country's scorecard has been rather poor. But the consumers' protection law is particularly important for the reason that the aggrieved consumers, if not the government, would be able to seek legal redress under its provisions individually or in groups. The draft law has, reportedly, proposed the formation of an advisory council. The earlier drafts proposed the formation of a consumers' protection council with the objective of filling up both legal and institutional vacuum in the matters of protecting the over-exploited consumers. Since the draft has not been made public, its details are not yet known. However, because of the very nature and goals of the present interim administration, consumers would like to believe that their rights and welfare would be protected well under the proposed ordinance and the wrongdoers would get what they deserve.