Editorial
Protecting consumer rights
Draft ordinance ought to be put before the public
THE consumers' rights need legal protection in a society where their rights are conspicuous by their absence. But the draft of the consumers' rights ordinance that has been prepared contains certain provisions which do not go far enough to underpin or protect consumer rights. It has been proposed that the affected consumers will have to lodge a complaint within 10 days of being aggrieved. Clearly, the consumer's interests are not sufficiently underpinned because in some cases it may take a longer time for the consumers to realise that they have been swindled. Secondly, the aggrieved consumers won't be allowed to file a case directly to the court. It has to be routed through a government agency to obtain the right to file a case in the court. In other words, the bureaucracy will practically decide the fate of the consumers' complaints. It is not at all clear why the consumers' right to seek legal aid all by themselves has not been recognised. After all, nothing can be more effective in protecting consumers' rights expect through the law of the land. Like Artha Rin Adalats or loan courts we may have a separate legal setup for redressing grievances related to consumer rights.
The whole scheme shows a bias towards the produc-ers, sellers and professionals or providers of different kinds of services. This is untenable in a market which has been known to be a sellers' one. The consumers or the vast majority of the people have had to accept whatever commodities and services they got, regardless of their quality, reliability and being shortchanged through defec-tive weights or measures.
The government should attach due importance to the element of transparency in formulating any law to protect consumers' rights. The whole thing should be brought before the people through placing the draft on the website and inviting public suggestions like in the case of RTI draft ordinance. All the stakeholders should be involved to produce a comprehensive law that we have been shamefully without in the last 37 years since national independence.
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