January 10, 2007
Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP) has said that the Islamabad Capital Territory is the first of all areas of Pakistan to have enacted a consumer protection law in 1995. This statement was made by CRCP in response to a news item published in a national daily on January 10, 2007, which reported that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly has demanded enactment of a consumer protection law for the Federal Capital. According to the press, the PAC had learnt that there was no such law in the Capital, and therefore, demanded the government to frame one without delay. The Commission emphasized that the PAC should ensure representation of consumer groups in its meetings, which focus on consumer issues, for making decisions on the basis of accurate information.
While responding to the news item, Mr. Abrar Hafeez, Secretary General CRCP, clarified that the Federal Capital was the first to have a specific law for protection of consumers, although the law is not fully operational because the relevant rules have not been framed. At present, there are four different consumer protection laws in Pakistan. These laws include the Islamabad Consumer Protection Act, 1995, the NWFP Consumer Protection (Amendment) Act, 2005, the Balochistan Consumer Protection Act, 2003, and the Punjab Consumer Protection Act, 2005. In Sindh, Sindh Consumer Protection Ordinance was promulgated by the Governor of the province on August 12, 2004. This Ordinance lapsed, as it could not be presented to the Sindh Assembly for ratification. The Government of Sindh is working in this direction and it is expected that the province would have a law passed by the Sindh Assembly very soon, he hoped.
Mr. Hafeez emphasized that, despite some weaknesses in the Islamabad Consumer Protection Act, 1995, there is a need to take concrete steps for its implementation for protection of consumer rights, as something is better than nothing. For this purpose, the Government should formulate rules of business and set up the Consumer Protection Council, Islamabad without further delay. Similar steps have to be taken by the Provincial Governments as well. He appreciated that the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights was undertaking many steps for creating awareness about consumer protection laws under Access to Justice Program such as preparation of awareness materials, training modules, seminars and training workshops, etc. Mr. Hafeez said that PAC could play pivotal role in protecting the rights of consumers by holding the government authorities accountable for abuse of public funds, and connivance with market, etc. He demanded that the PAC should ensure representation of consumers in its meetings that focus on consumer-related issues.