World Consumer Rights Day today

Like other parts of the globe, the World Consumer Rights Day 2018 is being marked here on Thursday (today) with a resolve that all-out efforts will be made to highlight the need for protection of consumers as provided under UN guidelines. To mark the day, different activities have been planned to raise awareness among people about rights of the consumers. In Pakistan, because of its enormous population and a high-level poverty, unemployment, and poor literacy levels, consumer awareness remains low. The ordinary citizens are still the victims of bad governance and are being denied their basic rights.
Experts believed that there are no consumer protection laws in Pakistan in line with international conventions. Laws such as the Pakistan Penal Code, the Contract Act, the Sale of Goods Act, the Drug Act, the Standard of Weight and Measurement Act are not sufficient to protect consumers.
Although there are laws dealing with adulterated foods and substandard drugs, their enforcement is quite poor. However, the role of the Punjab Food Authority is being considered praise worthy.
In the absence of regulatory controls and quality checks, citizens are at the mercy of callous manufacturers and the government's apathy has led to a situation of extreme suffering for low income groups. Consumer rights always a neglected area because the consumers do not have organized movement to voice their concerns. There are only a few private forums and organizations including multinationals working for consumer empowerment. They keep on voicing the consumers' rights and demanding enforcement of trademarks and copyright laws, experts added.
Health professionals told Business Recorder that unhealthy diets contribute to more than 11 million deaths a year globally. Obesity alone is estimated to annually cost $2 trillion. "If salt consumption was reduced by six gram per day, an estimated 2.5 million deaths could be prevented each year," they said.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, in his message, said that protection of consumers' rights is the basic responsibility of the government, adding that this agenda is included in the priorities of the Punjab government.
According to him, the Punjab government is taking all possible steps to protect the rights of the consumers.
There is also a need that the consumers should know their rights and responsibilities. He said that Consumer Protection Act has been enforced across the province and this has been benefitting consumers. Under this act, consumer courts have been set up in different districts to facilitate the hundreds of thousands of citizens. In case of any complaint against the trader or the manufacturer, application can be submitted to the Consumer Protection Council without any court fee or a lawyer, he added.