March 11, 2001

Islamabad: The World Consumer Rights Day will be celebrated in Pakistan on Thursday, March 15. In view of economic liberalization, globalization and increasing corporate power, Consumer International (CI) has chosen 'Corporate Governance' as a theme of the Day. The Consumer International is an umbrella organization of over 250 consumer groups working in different countries to protect and promote consumer interests at the international level. The World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated to mark the President John F. Kennedy's historic declaration on consumer rights and provides an opportunity to highlight contemporary issues in consumer protection both at the national and international levels. The selection of corporate governance as a theme of the Day this year is very pertinent in view the worldwide trend of corporatization and privatization processes which are, in most situations, insensitive to consumers' needs and concerns. It also highlights the need of ethical and socially responsible business practices on the part of corporate sector, including putting in place of effective accountability and regulatory mechanisms.

In Pakistan, the Day will be celebrated to remind government of its responsibility to ensure consumer protection by providing a comprehensive legal framework for consumer protection, including efficient redress of consumer complaints. It may be noted here that Pakistan still lacks consumer protection legislation at the national level and, in this regard, lags behind many of the Asian countries such as India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Sigapore and Malaysia. Although consumer protection laws were passed for Islamabad (1995) and NWFP (1997), they have failed to serve the purpose in view of certain inherent deficiencies as well as lack of respective governments' interest to implement them.

In 1999, Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan took the initiative and drafted a Model Consumer Protection Act 2000 from citizens' perspective. This Model Law was presented to the Federal as well as the provincial governments, besides the Law Commission of Pakistan, for enactment but it has remained very low on their priority lists. Relevant agencies continue to depend on ad-hoc measures and seem not to be pushed for a citizen-centric consumer legislation which could facilitate consumers to get their complaints redressed by filing suits and could get damages and compensations against any harm, damage or inconvenience which is caused to them.

Access to information and transparency is also very important from consumer perspective, especially in order to ensure supply of safe and quality goods and services. However, despite repeated promises, government has failed to enact access to information law. CRCP has also drafted a Model Freedom of Information Act 2001 and plans to present it to the Federal Government on March 15 for enactment. This Model Act was drafted by a CRCP team and was later revised in the light of the feedback of a national consultation, involving all the stake-holders i.e. government officials, representatives of citizen groups, media and legal experts.

As in other countries, Pakistan has also witnessed a process of corporatization and privatization. This process, however, remains insensitive to consumer concerns as greater emphasis is placed on macro-economic management considerations such as attracting foreign investment and earning resources to retire debt and bridge budgetary deficit etc. An aspect of a successful privatization is setting-up of independent and credible regulatory bodies to work as arbiter among various stake-holders. The experience of regulatory bodies such as National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, (NEPRA), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) thus far has not been very encouraging in view of Federal Government's reluctance to allow them to work independently and without unnecessary intervention. In particular, these bodies need to establish themselves as truly independent of powerful influences, cognizant of weakness of consumers, transparent in their working and competent enough to meet the contemporary challenges of regulation.

In the absence of a comprehensive consumer protection legislation, consumers in Pakistan suffer from a range of problems including high prices, inefficient services, low quality goods, safety hazards and unfair business practices. Until and unless, consumers are given the right to directly approach the courts and demand damages and compensations in cases where they are harmed by unfair business practices, situation on the ground is not likely to improve. It may be noted that at present consumers have to route their complaints through government agencies and their options are restricted in terms of directly approaching courts.

In connection with the World Consumer Rights Day, CRCP has planned a number of activities to highlight consumer concerns and demand effective measures for consumer protection. CRCP will avail of this opportunity to demand enactment of consumer protection and freedom of information laws, improvement of public sector services, immediate end of government's interference in the regulatory bodies and enforcement of quality standards especially in the areas of water, food items and home appliances. CRCP also calls upon the business groups to come up with their internal regulatory and accountability systems so that consumers could have ensured access to quality goods and services and their complaints could be redressed efficiently. Most importantly, CRCP impresses upon the need of consumers to become organized, adopt sustainable consumption patterns and engage with business as well the state for their legitimate rights.