The New Nation - Internet Edition

The caretaker government has completed all necessary work for enactment of the Consumer Protection Ordinance-2008 by next month to protect the rights of consumers. A high official at the commerce ministry on Friday said: "We will hold a high-level inter-ministerial meeting Monday prior to dispatching the draft of the ordinance to the advisory council for approval." Earlier, Commerce Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman said that the government set June as its latest timeframe for the passage of the proposed ordinance. The government stepped up its efforts to formulate the consumer protection laws amid soaring commodity prices, caused by a global spike and hoarding by some big traders in the country. Officials at the commerce ministry said the proposed law would provide the government the necessary weapons to control "any abnormal price hike" in the market. Under the proposed law, there are provisions for at least 20 types of crimes ranging from hoarding to flouting of packaging rules to over-pricing a product than its maximum retail price.

A guilty person can be penalized a maximum three years in jail and Tk 2 lakh in fines under the law.

According to the law, a consumer can file a case with an arbitration court against any hoarder, adulterer or retailer who is doing something wrong.