The current system of legal protection to the consumers in Bangladesh is inadequate and outdated. Further whatever little laws are available, they are not strictly enforced for the protection of the rights of the general consumers. The consumers in Bangladesh are thus deprived of their rights at every sphere of their lives.
The Constitution of Bangladesh, under its 'fundamental principles of state policy' part, recognizes the rights of consumers to a limited extent. The provisions of consumer protection can be found at Articles 15 and 18 of the Constitution. However, these provisions are mainly focussed on the vital issues of 'health' and 'food' than on other consumer rights. Moreover, the said provisions are mentioned under the 'fundamental principles of state policy' part and not under the 'fundamental rights' part of the Constitution. Hence, they remain mostly non-enforceable in the courts of law.
Apart from the said Constitutional provisions, Bangladesh also has a few specific consumer protection legislations. However, Rahman argues that such specific legislations are 'scanty,' 'scattered over a whole range of enactments' and are 'only indirectly related to the protection of consumer interests' [Mizanur Rahman, 'Consumer Protection in Bangladesh: Law and Practice' (1994) 17(3) Journal of Consumer Policy 349]. Some of such specific legislations include the Control of Essential Commodities Act 1957, the Pure Food Ordinance 1956, the Price and Distribution of Essential Commodities Ordinance 1970, the Bangladesh Drugs Control Ordinance 1982, the Breast-Milk Substitute (Regulation of Marketing) Ordinance 1984, the Tobacco Goods Marketing (Control) Act 1988, the Pure Food (Amendment) Act 2005 etc.
Further, there are certain legislations, part of which has got direct bearings on consumer protection. For example, sections 264-267, 272-276, 478-483 of the Bangladesh Penal Code 1860, the Poison Act 1919, the Dangerous Drug Act 1930, the Trade Mark Act 1940, the Animals Slaughter (Restriction) and Meat Act 1957, the Special Powers Act 1974, the Standards of Weights and Measures Ordinance 1982, the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute Ordinance 1985, the Narcotics (Control) Act 1990, and the Safe Blood Transfusion Act 2002, etc.
Ahmed and Rahman comments that the current regime of legislative protection to the consumers in Bangladesh is 'so outdated that little or no protection is provided to the consumers' [Borhan Ahmed and Khalilur Rahman, 'Consumer Rights: Bangladesh Perspective' CAB publication]. They further criticize the current legal regime for consumer protection on the following grounds:
(a) The current laws are faulty and do not meet the present needs;
(b) Under the existing legal regime, the aggrieved consumers themselves cannot go to the court to sue against the violators. It is only the designated government officials empowered under these laws, who can initiate and sue against the violators.
(c) The provisions of penalty or punishment under the current laws are so negligible that nobody cares to abide by such laws; and
(d) Finally, the laws are not effectively enforced.
Afroz too claims that, under the current legal regime, the general consumers in Bangladesh cannot take proper legal action against the fraudulent and unfair trade practices of the unscrupulous businessmen and traders [Tureen Afroz, 'Protecting the Rights of the Consumers in Bangladesh' (17 March 2002) The Daily Star]. She further states that the current statutory protections to the consumers in Bangladesh are not comprehensive and thus, fail to meet the contemporary requirements of the consumers.
