ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan has said that the government is working towards a framework to safeguard consumers’ rights and to empower them.
He was addressing at a conference organised by the Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP) on “Building a Digital World Consumers Can Trust” to commemorate World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) in Islamabad.
He said that democracy is a creation of human rights, and the acceptance of the right to vote by the people is indirectly bringing people into enforcement of the policy. Democracy would only strengthen consumers, he said.
Rana Muhammad Afzal agreed that consumers are being denied their rights by a number of private sector service providers on various counts, and even common vendors are not ready to provide invoices to buyers.
The conference focused on the themes of “consumer safety and quality of life”, “legal framework, Right to Information (RTI) and consumer protection”, “Education and Financial Service, Addressing Consumer Concerns”, and “Energy Supply and Hearing voices of Consumers”. Eminent experts and professionals delivered presentations in the national conference.
Speaking at the conference, CRCP Secretary General Abrar Hafeez said that the rapid growth of the internet, mobile phones and other digital technologies have created opportunities and challenges for millions of consumers around the world. CRCP Project Coordinator Munir Ahmad said that it is quite unfortunate that consumers are at a disadvantaged position because it is inherently weak. State and markets interact but consumer rights are not heard. He said that CRPC is in negotiating a position for consumers to bring them into this equation. He highlighted that consumer rights are even absent from political manifestos. He also lamented that a Consumer Protection Council is yet to be established in Islamabad.
Talking about Punjab Food Authority (PFA) and related Act, PFA Director General Noor Ul Amin Mengal said that efforts were underway to frame a law for tackling the issue of misleading advertisement and deceptive marketing practices, which would help stop the exploitation of consumers. He also emphasised the need to get an advertisement passed from PFA before actually advertising the product in order to ensure that the quality of the food being sold is in line with the Act and set standards.
