TABIL OF CONTENTS

Chapter Headline Page No.

1 ABSTRACT 3
2 Introduction 4
3 Who is Consumer? 5-6
4 What are Consumer Rights? 6-7
5 What is Consumer Rights Protection? 7
6 Importance of consumer protection 8
7 The Consumers’ Right Protection Act (CRPA), 2009 9
8 Overview 10-11
9 Aspects of Consumer Protection & Responsibility of the consumer 11-12
10 Reasons behind to be cheated as a consumer in Bangladesh 13
Conclusion 14
Reference 15
 ABSTRACT
The protection of consumer rights is essential for every citizen. It is considered as a ‘right to
life’ which is a fundamental right. Apart from the Constitutional provisions, Bangladesh also
has a few specific consumer protection legislations which are 'scanty,' 'scattered over a
whole range of enactments' and are 'only indirectly related to the protection of consumer
interests' except the Consumer Rights Protection Act, 2009. This study aims at focus on
existing Consumer Protection Law (2009), finding out the ambiguities of the existing laws of
and to give proper suggestions   thence. The working of the various consumer rights related
institutions of Bangladesh are evaluated in this article with a positive approach to improve
their quality and capacity to ensure consumer rights.
Chapter 1
Introduction
The Consumer Right Protection Act was passed by the parliament and obtained assent of
the president on April 05, 2009 and its demand is the Consumers of Bangladesh. So it is
essential to understand what consumer is. Consumer is a person who consumes or uses any
commodity or service available to him either from natural resources of through a market for
final consumption. It gives Protection to the Consumers against the violation of their right
and being injured by the unfair trade practices of the seller or service provider. It does not
mean that consumer right has not protected before Act was passed. People of Bangladesh
had been protected try various Acts such as - Constitution of Bangladesh, Sale of Goods Act,
Specific Relief Act, Dung Control Ordinance, Pure Food Ordinance, Penal Code etc. But rights
of the Consumers were not well protected by those Acts. After the enactment, people got a
written or existing Act and protected under this Act.1

Chapter 2

Who is Consumer?
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According to the law and act, a person is required to perform certain conditions to be
regarded as a consumer. Basically, the persons who use or consume products and services
are known as consumers. Another way to explain- buyer, who is the final customers of
products and services, is known as consumer. Under Consumer Right Protection Act,
2009(CRPA, 2009) “a person who buys goods to earn a livelihood by self-employment
(through in a commercial scale) also falls within the definition of a consumer. Before the
enactment, a set of consumer rights were mentioned in different Laws in a fragmented way. In
Bangladesh, consumers can be divided into two types: (1) service consumer and (2) product
consumer. Section-2 (19) of the Consumers Right Protection Act, 2009 in Bangladesh states the
definition of consumers as follows2:
 
“Consumer” means any person who3:

(a) Who without resale or commercial purpose

(i) buys any goods for a consideration which has been paid or promised to be paid;

(ii) buys any goods for a consideration which has been partly paid and partly promised;

(iii) buys any goods for a consideration under any system of deferred payment or instalment

 basis; 

(b) Who uses any goods bought under clause (a) with the approval of the buyer;

(c) Who buys any goods and uses it commercially for the purpose of earning his livelihood by
means of self-employment;

(d) Who-

(i) Hires or in any other manner avails of any service for a consideration which has been paid
or promised to be paid; or 

(ii) Hires or in any other manner avails of any service for a consideration which has been
partly paid and partly promised; or

(iii) Hires or in any other manner avails of any service for a consideration under any system

of deferred payment or installment basis; or

(e)  Who enjoys any service under clause (d), with the approval of the person who hires or
avails it.

Chapter 3

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The Consumers Right Protection Act,2009, section 2 (19)
 What are Consumer Rights?
Though not commonly known because of the publicly approaches of the traders, every consumer,
which commonly means every person in the society and the citizens who buy products not for any
further commercial use but for ultimate consumption, have some rights of their own. Those rights
are protected by the state through some specific laws, rules and regulations and are called
Consumer Rights.

To be more specific, there are eight consumer rights which are defined by the UN Consumer Bill of
Rights4:

1. Right to Safety-

safeguarding against the goods that are hazardous to life and property.

2. Right to Information-

consumers have the right to be informed regarding the price, quality, quantity, etc., of the products
they buy.

3. Right to Choice-

consumers should be provided with a wide variety of good to choose from.

4. Right to be Heard-

right of consumers to have their complaints heard.

5. Right to Satisfaction of Basic Needs-

this right demands that people have access to basic, essential goods and services: adequate food,
clothing, shelter, health care, education, public utilities, water and sanitation.

6. Right to Redress-

consumers have the right to seek redress regarding their complaints.

7. Right to Consumer Education-

the right of consumers to be educated about their rights.

8. Right to Healthy Environment-

this is the right to live and work in an environment that is non-threatening to the well-being of
present and future generations.5

Chapter 4
What is Consumer Rights Protection?

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UN Consumer Bill of Rights, 1962
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In a welfare state, some laws, rules and regulations are enacted to protect the people from
anti-consumer rights practices. Those laws, rules and regulations are collectively called as
Consumer Rights Protection. This definition is quite simple, but it also creates another
question in our minds, what kind of activities can be called the anti-consumer rights
practices exactly?
For that, it has been clarified in The Consumers Right Protection ACT (CRPA), 2009, section-2
(20) as given below:
“anti- consumer rights practices” means-

a. to sell or offer to sell any goods, medicine or service at a higher price than the fixed price
under any law for the time being in force;
b. to sell or offer to sell adulterated goods or medicine knowingly;
c. to sell or offer to sell any goods containing any ingredient which is extremely injurious
to human health and the mixing of which with any food item is
prohibited under any law for the time being in force;
d. to deceive consumers by untrue or false advertisement with the
purpose of selling any goods or service;
e. not to sell or deliver properly any goods or services sold and promised in consideration of 
money;
f. to sell or deliver less than the offered weight to the consumers while delivering or selling 
any goods;
g. if the weight stone or any other weight measuring instrument used for measuring weight
in selling or delivering goods shows more than the actual weight;
h. to sell or deliver less than the offered amount while delivering or selling any goods;
i. if the length measuring gauge or anything else used for measuring length in selling or
delivering goods shows more than the actual length;
j. to make or manufacture any fake goods or medicine;
k. to sell or offer to sell goods or medicine the date of which has expired;
l. to do an act which may endanger life or security of the consumer and which is prohibited
by any law for the time being in force.

In short, anti- consumer rights practices mean all the activities which deprive a citizen of exercising
his rights as a consumer.6

Chapter 5
Importance of consumer protection
The concept of consumer protection is important. Internationally consumer protection aims have
been recognized as fundamental rights, as early in 1973. Since 1983, every year March 15 is
observed as ‘World Consumer Rights Day’. The annual celebration of the consumer movement is a
means of raising global awareness about consumer rights and needs; it is a chance to demand that
the rights of all consumers are respected and protected; and to protest against market abuses and
social injustices which undermine those rights. Such International recognition and celebration of
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Consumer Rights Day signifies the importance of consumer rights protection. Thus to adequately
protect the interest of consumers, effective legal mechanism is required. In Bangladesh, there was
no specific law on the protection of consumer’s right for a long time. The rights were protected
through various enactments. However, the criticisms were that the law was fragmented and also
provided inadequate consumer protection. After prolonged advocacy and lobbying by the Consumer
Association of Bangladesh (non-governmental voluntary organization), with the Government and the
policy makers, a draft Consumers Protection Law was formulated. In 2008 Care-taker Government
passed an Ordinance in this regard. This Ordinance however was later disregarded and on 6th April,
2009 the Government finally enacted the long awaited Consumer Rights Protection Act 2009. 7

Chapter 6
The Consumers’ Right Protection Act (CRPA), 2009
The Consumers’ Right Protection Act, 2009 is a consumer protection specific enactment. It was
enacted to ensure adequate consumer right protection. To fulfil and implement the objectives of
this Act, a National Consumer Right Protection Council has been established. Functions of the
Council include formulation of policy on consumer protection, etc. The performance and execution
of decisions by the Council is assisted by a Directorate called the Directorate of National Consumers’
Right Protection (DNCRP). DNCRP is a quasi-judicial body with investigatory, hearing and remedial
powers. Complaints of anti-consumer activity can be directly made to this body. To ensure such

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protection throughout the country, the CRPA 2009 has also created a district committee in every
district named District Consumers’ Right Protection Committee. Functions of the District committee
include compliance with the direction of the Council, raising awareness, etc. Upazilla and Union
Committees may also be constituted under the Act for similar purpose. 8

Chapter 7
Overview
The Consumer Right Protection Act (later termed as CRPA), 2009 of Bangladesh was passed
by the parliament and obtained assents of the president on 5 th April, 2009 and shall come
into force at once [sec-1(2)]. The Act provides for the protection of consumer rights and for
prevention of acts against consumer right and interest and other relevant issues. The
Consumer Protection Act 2009 is organized into 7 chapters and a total of 82 section. The Act
mainly deals with the obligations of “economic operators’’ and product safety. It enjoins
state organs to punish the offenses of economic operators who violate consumer rights and
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interests. It provides for various actions to be taken by the respective ministries against the
production of products or services that are likely to induce grave or imminent dangers. The
Act also sets out comprehensive procedures to be followed by inspection agents to ensure
the quality and safety of products (goods and services). It also allows for the establishment
of a specialized institution to be in charge of fraud repression and inspections of imported
and exported goods, (Chapter 1) deals with definition such as complainant, consumer,
medicine, punishment, Food product, council (chapter 2). Department and Director general
(chapter 3), offence and punishment (chapter 4), trial (chapter 5), civil proceedings and
remedies (chapter 6) and miscellaneous (chapter 7).
In section 2(20) – it states some name of activities which is against consumer’s rights such
as- to sale at a higher price, to sale any adulterer medicine or product, to sell any product
which has mixture of any product, deceiving people by false or untrue advertisements, not
to supply goods properly in exchange of price, to make counterfeit products, to sale date
expired products and so on.
In section 2(22)- it provides for a definition of services.
In section 5 - it is said that “The Consumer Right Protection Council’’ shall be established and
it consists of 29 members. The tenure of membership, Meeting and Function of the council
shall be enacted.
In section 10 – it provides about the Establishment of District committee for the Protection
of Consumer Right.
In chapter 3 – Sections from (18-36) deal with Establishment of a Department, Director
General and powers and functions of the Director General and so on.
In chapter 4- Sections from (37-56) deal with punishment for the various acts against
consumer’s rights and interest and violation of the provisions of this act.
In chapter 5- Sections from (57-65) deal with the trial.
In chapter 6- Sections from (66-68) deal with the civil proceedings and remedy.
In chapter 7- Section from (68-82) deal with the miscellaneous. Chapter 7 also deals with
different types of miscellaneous provisions such as- power of District Magistrate (sec-69),
administrative action taken by Department (sec-70), monitoring private health and medicine
service (sec-73) etc. Under this chapter some exemption is also allowed for some offenses. 9

Chapter 8
Aspects of Consumer Protection

There are three aspects of consumer rights protection, which every country must consider.

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 I. Voluntary protection;
II. Institutional Protection;
III. Statutory Protection;
First, the aspect of voluntary protection' which means that consumers themselves would
voluntarily set up associations and/or organizations to safeguard their own rights and
interests. These associations/organizations generally work as pressure groups on the
government for consumer rights issues e.g. the Consumers' Association of Bangladesh.
Second, the aspect of institutional protection'. By establishing national institutions to safeguard
and promote consumer rights of citizens this aspect of consumers' protection can be ensured. In
Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute has been active in protecting consumers of
Bangladesh in a limited capacity by way of doing laboratory research and testing of commodities
to find out whether the same comply with the expected standard. However, currently the country
has established a "National Council for the protection of Consumer Rights" and a 'District
Committee' in every district headed by the DC's. The Consumer Rights Protection Act, 2009 has
also established a Department/Directorate headed by a Director General (DG) for the protection
of consumer's rights. Except the Government institutions there are some Non-Government
Organizations (NGO's) working for the protection of consumer rights.

Third, is the aspect of 'statutory protection' which can be guaranteed by enacting relevant
laws for protecting the rights and interests of the consumers. Many countries of the world,
including those in Asia, have already enacted comprehensive laws in this regard. For
example, the Consumer Rights Protection Act, 2009 in Bangladesh.
So, the concept of consumer rights depends upon the promotional activities and the
protection mechanisms of a particular society or of a state. The protection of a consumer
rights ultimately ensures safety in products and security in service whereas the promotion
of a consumer rights depends upon the education, monitoring of the supply and marketing
systems of various products, examining goods, enforcing proper scale in weight and
measurement, enacting proper laws, creating awareness etc.10

Responsibility of the consumer

 Use the product safely, following all safety instructions and remaining alert for future
precautions.
 Choose vigilantly at a fair price.
 Make the effort to seek compensation for a wrong.
 Make choices that minimize the environmental impact of your purchase on others.
 Consume in a sustainable manner, so as not to prevent others from meeting their
own needs.11

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Chapter 9
Reasons behind to be cheated as a consumer in Bangladesh

Consumers of our country, most of the time, are not aware of the products completely
those they are buying as a result they get cheated. Consumers are not aware of their rights
at all. If the consumer is wise during purchase / shopping, then they need not to return
home with the worry that they may have been cheated. Some of the factors those help
producers to do cheating with the consumers are discussed below-

Lack of awareness
Mass people of Bangladesh are unaware of their rights as a consumer. They do not know if
the sellers cheat them, what they should do or where they should go. The reason behind is
that consumers right is still a comparatively new concept to the people of Bangladesh.
Illiteracy
Most of the people in Bangladesh do not know about the existence of their rights as
consumer. One of the main reasons for this is the lack of basic education. They cannot think
up to the level that they can have such rights which would give them protection against
adulteration of food, medicine etc. and the right to get proper service for which they are
paying.

Economic Condition
We cannot avoid thinking of the economic condition which does not provide the
atmosphere fit for consumers who are careful and demand quality.

Compromising Attitude
Sometimes we do compromise with the quality of goods bought because of our financial
limitation. If we are incapable of paying the accurate price for the goods we buy, we cannot
expect a high standard of quality for the same.
These are the small fractions of problem related to the consumers. However, there are other
problems to. For example, in Bangladesh there is no separate court for consumers' rights.
Also the consumers lack proper authority to go to the court to bring action against those who
violate the consumers" rights. Therefore, the consumers need to rely upon the government
officials concerned to bring any effective action against the alleged parties. Those alleged
parties are also taking advantage of this vague situation. The corrupt businessmen tend to
establish a good relationship with corrupt government officials who might help them to cheat
and exploit the innocent consumers. Moreover, the BSTI (Bangladesh Standards and Testing
Institute) is beset with lots of problems, like it does not have modern equipment and facilities
for testing of many products. Also, the general consumers very often question the efficiency
and integrity of the officials in the BSTI.12

Conclusion

Laws are accumulation of some rules and regulations by sovereign authority. But success of
laws depends on who has the power of enforcing them. Appropriate enforcement of a law can
make people do the right thing. So, if certain people, those have the power, enforce consumer
right protection law in a right manner, strong-handed, and effectively then all the people of
the country will get benefited. They will get the quality products and services at cheap price
because of the market competition. As a result, we have to import fewer products from the
other countries at a high cost we may also export those products instead of importing. So,
economy of the country will boost up and it run properly. For the betterment of the whole
society, now it is important to enforce the consumer protection law properly and this country
a better place to live.

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 Reference

List of relevant status on consumer right:

1. The Consumers Right Protection Act,2009

2. http://bdlawdigest.org/consumer-rights-protection-in-bangladesh.html?
fbclid=IwAR0CT2QsBWK0Kbim7vFsyJWWbCyejAWr4lsTQ0Cywtcdl2d9WWd4ZkwQH
ek
3. https://www.scribd.com/doc/250452820/Assignment-on-Consumer-Protection-Law-
in-Bangladesh?
fbclid=IwAR09CkIPZ3cxY9VTCilRJn17Sc6NQY1pZp_8tmPRwfzV6ek5Chth3B9LaCA
4. https://www.slideshare.net/badhon11-2104/consumer-rights-protection-act-
2009badhon