Chapter 1
Consumers Right Protection
1.1 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
1.2 History of Consumer Rights in Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, the consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) was established in 1978.
With the relentless effort of CAB since 1994, a draft Consumer Protection Act for
Bangladesh was formulated in 1998 by the Ministry of Commerce in consultation with CAB
and other relevant ministries, Department and agencies of the government of Bangladesh.
During 1999, CAB arranged a series of seminars and workshops where people from different
corners of the society actively participated to suggest necessary changes in the draft act so
prepared. In February 2000, the Ministry of Commerce sent the draft Act (with necessary
amendment) to the Law Reform Commission to do necessary research on it. On the 29
October 2000, the Law Reform Commission published a report on the draft act. Finally, the
draft Act got the preliminary approval at the cabinet but was again sent to the secretarial
Committee meeting for further security. This is so far the current status of the Consumer
Protection Act of Bangladesh.
The draft act is organized into 4 parts with 32 sections in total. The purpose of the act is
stated as:
To protect the interests of the consumers,
To set standards in business and
To established necessary institutions for satisfying the above mentioned purpose
and for the settlement of consumer disputes.
We are grateful to the parliament for enacting the Consumer Rights Protection Act 2009,
which brought a light of hope for us to enforce our rights in the courts and get a platform to
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speak for the rights specified in the law. However, are these specifications sufficient? It
seems to leave a controversy of darkness underneath the candle light. 2
1.3 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 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 2009.3
1.4 Who is Consumer?
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 follows4:
“Consumer” means any person who5:
(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;
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The Consumers Right Protection Act,2009, section 2 (19)
(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.
1.5 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 Rights6:
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-
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UN Consumer Bill of Rights, 1962
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.7
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