Lack of awareness, negative perceptions of the judicial system and poor official coordination have rendered consumer courts and consumer councils ineffective.
The courts and council were set up under Punjab Consumer Protection Act 2005 to allow people to file complaints against the organisation where they are employed, be it a government office or a private one.
Though the courts were given room to operate, the consumers councils, since their establishment seven years ago, could not get their own building and are lodged in a rented building.
Before filing any complaint, the aggrieved consumer is expected to send a legal notice to the organisation/employer to address their grievances within 15 days.
“If not addressed, the consumer can file an application and the court is bound to dispose of the case within six months,” said assistant director (Legal) Adnan Kareem.
Unlike other courts where complainants have to pay court fees, the consumer courts do not charge any fee nor does the complainant have to hire a lawyer as provision of a counsel is the responsibility of the court.
“Any consumer can file a complaint on a simple paper. Violation of service agreement, not displaying price list, and non-issuance of receipt to consumers are some examples of violating consumers’ rights,” he said.
After filing a complaint at the council, it decides whether to resolve the issue or send the complaint to the court.
Consumer protection council
To protect consumers’ rights, a council was set up under sections 11, 16, 18 and 19 of the consumer protection act to be headed by a district coordination officer and comprising 20 members.
There are nine government officials and 11 private members, including four women, among the members. Since the last several months, no meeting of the council could be convened as the DCO, who is the chairman of the council, ‘unofficially’ transferred his authority to assistant commissioners.
After its establishment in March 2007, the consumers court could dispose of 661 cases out of 729 cases filed since 2007 till December 2013. Of the total cases, the court decided 339 while disposed of 239 after mutual agreement of all parties.
The council, meanwhile, received 671 cases of which it disposed of 486. 112 cases were sent to the consumers courts while 185 cases still pending.
In the first six months of this year, around 85 cases were filed in total.
The low number of cases filed in the council and courts shows a lack of public awareness about the importance of the forum.
Lawyers are of the view that unawareness about consumers courts and councils, and fear of the judicial system force consumers to avoid the courts.
“Consumers continue to suffer as like the consumer courts and council, price control magistrates, price control committees, market committees and assistant commissioners are also not performing their duties,” said Malik Zaheer Arshad, a lawyer.
Kareem told The Express Tribune, that people are reluctant as they have a very negative perception about the judicial system. “Their perception about our judicial system is not positive which is why they don’t dare file any complaint but we are trying to restore their confidence and try our best to dispose of the case early” he said.
He said consumers courts are much different from other courts as here consumers can get easy and speedy relief without spending a rupee.
He said the council also guides consumers on how to send a legal notice to any party, however, the council has no authority to take action against any party which is why consumers have lost interest to involve it or consumers courts in their legal matters.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 19th, 2014.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ