DHAKA, Bangladesh, Jan 7 (BSS) : The Consumers Rights Protection Act is expected to get final approval by the council of advisers very soon to end the decade long maneuvering under the two previous governments.

"It will be one of the good achievements of the caretaker government," said an official in the commerce ministry pointing to the high priority which the present government has attached to the enactment of the new law.

It may be passed as an ordinance in the absence of parliament, said a source emphasising the need for such a law to reign in the unruly market situation. He said the draft bill was presented before the council of advisers in November last year.

The council suggested some amendments to the draft which were already carried out. It is now waiting for vetting by the law ministry prior to placing it again before the council of advisers for final approval.

The President may promulgate an ordinance at the end to make it a law. The official source said the commerce ministry is under constant pressure on preparing the draft law quickly to end its approval process by the council of advisers.

"It is acting under a two-month deadline," said a source hoping that the vetting of the draft is expected to be accomplished by next week. He said the new law is going to be very comprehensive to take care of the details of the existing laws and its implications with the free market economy.

It aims at addressing many problems the market is now witnessing in terms of unbridled monopoly in many cases and the soaring profiteering of businessmen in absence of an effective law to bring discipline to the market.

The law will address the issues of globalisation and WTO, the issue of fixation of maximum prices, how the free market can operate making it more buyers friendly and how the dishonest traders and hoarders can be dealt with.

It has laid out provisions for punishment of offenders, penalty for people indulging in adulteration of food and consumer items. Once passed out as a law, it will provide protection for buyers and bring relief to them from dishonest traders.

The source said that the initiative to make such a law was taken about 10 years back. The past Awami League government drafted the law and presented to the law ministry for vetting after its initial by the cabinet.

But it never saw the light of the day as the vested quarters, specially the business lobbies, followed the move and ensured its freezing in the cold to put the initiative off the track.

Then the BNP government came to power. This government again started the process from the very beginning with the drafting of the law. The cabinet gave initial approval to it and passed to the law ministry for vetting, exactly the way the previous Awami League government handled it to ultimate death.

The law ministry put it in the cold again only to see that the five-year BNP government term was near to end and there was no time to follow it. The Consumers Right Protection Act thus
remained a long time dream to people while the exploitation of market continues and betrayal to consumers continues unabated.

The caretaker government has taken the matter as a priority issue from the very beginning and officials now hoped its vetting

by the law ministry may be achieved by next week.

There is no reason to see that the vetting will be delayed this time or put in abeyance, said an official saying, the chief adviser's office is often in touch with the relevant officials of the commerce ministry monitoring the progress.

@ The Bangladesh Journal