People unaware of their consumer rights

Rawalpindi: Though the price hike is making the lives of the consumers miserable but it is seen that most of them are still unaware of their rights clearly envisaged in the existing laws at the federal and provincial level.

The Consumer Rights Day passed quietly on March 15 and a limited survey of educated customers in the Saddar Market revealed that almost all of them lacked the basic knowledge about their legal rights.

When asked whether he had knowledge about the working of the consumer courts, visitor, Asad Gohar, said he was not fully aware about the powers of these courts and what these could do for the consumers.

The text of the Punjab Consumer Protection Act clearly states that “Unless a price catalogue is available for issue to customer, the manufacturer or trader shall display prominently in his shop or display centre a notice specifying the retail or wholesale price, as the case may be, of every goods available for sale in that shop or display centre.”

The consumers can use consumer courts in order to ensure that businesses display price lists and prices on items.

They can also invoke Price Control Act 1977 to enforce the display of price lists and prices on items.

Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Advocate said the consumer court in Rawalpindi only received 440 complaints in last one year and 248 out of them have been decided according to the laws.

“There are millions of people living in Rawalpindi but few of them approached the consumer court to submit their complaints so it is quite clear that they are generally still unaware about what they can do to protect their legal rights,” he said.