Irregularities were found everywhere we conducted drives: DNCRP chief

AHM Shafiquzzaman, director general of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP), on Thursday said his organisation during its drives to protect consumers from market manipulation has found irregularities at all levels. 

"Irregularities are found everywhere we look," he said.

After being cheated time and again, consumers also now have reached such a level where they even cannot perceive that their rights are being violated, he observed while addressing a seminar titled "The Consumer Rights Protection Act-2009 and the role of media", organised jointly by the DNCRP and the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF) at the ERF auditorium in the capital.

Mentioning that his organisation is conducting drives to uphold consumers' rights, the DNCRP director general said, "But, the biggest weakness of the DNCRP is lack of proper data and information. There is no legal source of data for this organisation. There is also no scope for scrutinising the available information received from the consumers and personal sources."

He also informed the media that his directorate has decided to work jointly with the country's intelligence and law enforcement agencies to protect the rights of the consumers.

Both electronic and print media can play an important role in creating awareness regarding the consumers' rights among the mass people, Shafiquzzaman said.

Citing various examples of consumer rights violations, Shafiquzzaman said the representatives of various pharmaceutical companies usually throng doctors' chambers and from this, anyone can assume that the physicians are prescribing those medicines as suggested by the pharmaceutical companies. On the other hand, he said, the medical representatives are also taking snaps of the prescriptions for patients, which is akin to a violation of the secrecy of patients.

Commoners are also not getting due utility services from entities like Wasa, Deasa, and Titas Gas Company Ltd as there is often low pressure in gas supply, poor quality of water, and load shedding, he maintained.

"In a nutshell, wherever we're intervening, we're getting elements of a certain level of irregularities," he said.

Talking about the crisis of edible oil in recent times, he said that there should not be any crisis of edible oil according to the official data.

"Despite this, there has been a crisis as the manufacturers have lowered production. Businessmen are also keeping their supply orders on hold. In a sense, a monopoly or syndicate has been created in the market," Shafiquzzaman added.

DNCRP Director (admin and finance) Monjur Mohammad Shahriar stressed the need for strengthening the Consumer Rights Protection Act to match it with the country's development spree.

ERF President Sharmeen Rinvy spoke at the seminar while its general secretary SM Rashidul Islam moderated the function. AFP Bureau Chief and ERF vice president Shafiqul Alam and Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Adviser Kazi Abdul Hannan also spoke on the occasion.

Rajabi Nahar Rajani, an official of DNCRP presented a paper on the operations of the Directorate and its Act.