ISLAMABAD, Jan 10: The Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP) has said officials of various ministries misinformed the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday by stating that there was no consumer protection law in place in the federal capital.
The commission said that the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) was the first in the country to have enacted a consumer protection law, the Islamabad Consumer Protection Act, 11 years ago.
However, it is not clear whether the officials of the ministry of finance, the ministry of production and special initiatives and the Utility Stores Corporation were misinforming the committee or they themselves were unaware of the existence of any such law that was shelved soon after its enactment.
CRCP Secretary-General Abrar Hafeez told Dawn on Wednesday that the Islamabad Consumer Protection Act-1995 was a classic example of how laws were enacted and shelved in Pakistan.
He said the public had no knowledge of any such law because it had been shelved and its rules of business and procedure were yet to be devised and implemented.
During its meeting, the PAC had asked the officials more than 10 times whether there was any law in existence that safeguarded consumers rights in Islamabad, and the answer was a big “No” every time.
“If you do not know how to approach a court and how to fight for your rights, how can you ever fight for your rights,” he observed.
He said NWFP Consumer Protection (Amendment) Act, 2005, the Balochistan Protection Act, 2003, and the Punjab Consumer Protection Act, 2005, were laws that were in place in these three provinces. But, people had no knowledge of these laws.
The Sindh Consumer Protection Ordinance was promulgated by the governor of the province on August 12, 2004. However, this ordinance lapsed as it could not be presented before the Sindh Assembly for ratification.
He said the Sindh government was working in this direction and it was expected that the province would have a law passed by the Sindh Assembly very soon.
Mr Hafeez emphasised that despite some weaknesses in the Islamabad Consumer Protection Act, there was a greater need to take concrete steps for its implementation to protect consumer rights as ‘something is better than nothing’.
“Laws are enacted not to be shelved but to be implemented in letter and spirit. This is what governments do and they have,” he said.
For this purpose, he added, the government should formulate rules of business and set up a consumer protection council without any further delay.
According to the act, as soon as may be, after the commencement of this act, the federal government may, by notification in the official gazette, establish the Consumer Protection Council, Islamabad.
The council would determine, promote and protect the rights of consumers including the right to protection against marketing of goods hazardous to life and property and the right to information about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standards and prices of goods and services.
Besides, protecting consumers’ right to access to a variety of goods at competitive prices and the right to redressal against unfair trade practices.
Similar steps have to be taken by the provincial governments as well, Mr Hafeez said.
He appreciated that the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights had been undertaking many steps for creating awareness of consumer protection laws under the Access to Justice Programme.
He said the Public Accounts Committee could play a pivotal role in protecting the rights of consumers by holding the government authorities accountable for the abuse of public funds.
He demanded that the PAC should ensure representation of the consumers in its meeting that focussed on consumer related issues.
