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| June 29, 2005 | Wednesday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 21, 1426 |
Punjab to set up 11 consumer courts
LAHORE, June 28: Punjab will take lead over other provinces by establishing 11 consumer courts for which an allocation of Rs100 million has been made in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the fiscal year 2005-06.
Consumer courts are being established under the Punjab Consumer Protection Act, 2005, adopted by the provincial legislature in January. The establishment of such courts is part of the $300 million Access to Justice Programme sponsored by the Asian Development Bank.
The establishment of consumer courts is being initiated to meet one of the conditions of the ADB which has borne the entire expenses for this judicial forum as a new tier in the country’s legal system.
According to the Punjab law department sources, consumer courts will be established in all the districts. To begin with, 11 such courts are being established from the next fiscal year, two in Lahore and one each in Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Bahawalpur, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and three other cities that the government will decide.
Consumer courts in all the districts will be established under a consumer protection council to function within the legal parameters prescribed by the Punjab Consumer Protection Council as a regulatory authority and a watchdog body on dangerous products and faulty and defective services.
The council will have the power to remove such products and services from trade or commerce. The provincial council will get data and other necessary information from district consumer protection councils with the purpose of keeping a watch on all products and services and correspond with trade, industry and service-providing entities in case of complaints by the public.
Headed by a sitting or retired high court judge, the Punjab Consumer Protection Council will comprise the representatives of industrial, trade and commerce bodies which are registered with trade and industry chambers. Senior officers from service-providing agencies will also be its members. The ratio of the institution’s representation will be 50 per cent while the remaining members will be from the public.
The government has yet to decide the number of provincial and district council members and also frame rules and regulations for a provincial consumer protection council. Lahore will be headquarters of the provincial council.
As for district consumer protection councils, their composition will be more or less on the lines of the provincial council. The only difference will be that the district nazim will also be a member of this council. A similar pattern will be followed down to the tehsil level.
PENALTY: The presiding officer of a consumer council will be the district judge who will be obliged to decide a dispute within a period of six months upon receipt of a complaint and after completion of procedural matters. The law provides for a punishment of one-year imprisonment or a fine of Rs100,000 or both in case a challenged product is proved defective.
Similarly, a service shall also be deemed faulty if it damages the equipment of a consumer. A faulty power supply that damages electronic equipments, for instance, shall be liable to punishment.
Giving false and misleading statement about a product, service or trade will also constitute a similar offence under the law. Advertising a trade or product which develops a price anomaly or is not in consonance with its value, is also an offence.
CONSUMER: The act defines a consumer as a buyer of a product or takes control of a service on rent or lease for a mutually agreed period between parties. But the definition of the consumer does not extend to a person who obtains such products and services for commercial purposes.
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