Consumers lose patience very quickly: AHM Shafiquzzaman

Consumers in the country behave impatiently without knowing the details of any incident, and lose tempers very quickly. That is why some organisations face embarrassing situations without having committed any wrong.

We put businesses on trial even before the facts regarding allegations against them are proven. When the media does something like this, it is called a media trial. Nowadays there is trial by social media.

Consumer behavioural patterns cause panic every year before Ramadan, which always hurts us. Demand for some products increases ahead of Ramadan, so there is an ample supply of goods at that time. But when everyone starts overbuying, sellers take advantage of that, which hurts the consumers in the end.

A family of three or four members does not need more than 1 kg of salt per month, but when a rumour was spread about its being in short supply, everyone rushed to buy 8-10 kg of salt. In the UK, customers are currently not allowed to buy more than one litre of oil or three tomatoes at a time. They have accepted the rules, because there is a crisis. Consumers need such maturity.

Consumers are more aware of their rights now than ever before. Currently, they do not have to complain about many things as they get solutions for their problems immediately when they tell shop owners that they will complain through the consumer rights hotline 16121 about the violation of their rights.

We too are working vigorously to inform consumers about their rights so that they can get remedies for their problems. The videos of drives we post on our official Facebook page and YouTube channel are getting millions of views.

We have already launched the CCMS app, through which consumers can complain from anywhere in the country. It is currently running on a pilot basis in Dhaka, but work on launching it all over the country is going on.

Meanwhile, there are some consumers who complain with an ill motive because they get money if their allegations are proved. There is a provision in the law regarding action to be taken against them. If there are questionable motives, then those who have been victimised can file a case under the Digital Security Act.

Instead of complaining about silly matters, consumers are now complaining about big issues. For example, such issues as construction and railways are coming to light now. But we have some limitations. We are unable to resolve complaints regarding e-commerce. We are also unable to address complaints against mobile phone operators due to a writ. That is why we are trying to amend the Consumer Act 2009.

Besides, we have a shortage of manpower. There is only one officer in each district office. It is very challenging to work in this way. We are working on recruiting 465 new officers.

If we cannot take action regarding an issue, we recommend that the departments or ministries concerned take measures about it. For example, we asked the Energy Regulatory Commission to regulate the LPG market.

The production cost of poultry is Tk130-160 per kg, but the producers sell it at Tk207 per kg. It is sold at Tk250 per kg to customers, but the price should not be more than Tk200. These issues have been reported to the fisheries and livestock ministry, which is working in this regard.

The department began working with regard to the Ramadan market three months earlier. The dollar rose in value due to the post-Covid-19 situation and the Russia-Ukraine war and so commodity prices will naturally rise. But we have been working to fix the supply situation so that it remains reasonable. We have helped those who had problems regarding letters of credit (LCs) on a case-by-case basis.

It has been decided after meetings with the stakeholders that there will be a market committee for controlling each market. If any committee fails to do the job, the commerce ministry will take disciplinary action, including cancellation of all their registrations.
As of 28 February of the current fiscal year, 15,688 complaints have been filed, and 5,120 are yet to be resolved.