ISLAMABAD: Consumers are the most vulnerable class of people in Pakistan, partly because of a lack of proper understanding of their rights and legal remedies and partly because of the disparity in consumer protection laws in the federal capital and the four provinces. Consumer protection laws in any developed country aim at promoting fair competition, flow of truthful information in the marketplace, sale of standardised goods, and plenary provisions for consumer courts so as to provide prompt and fair dispensation of justice. At present, the Islamabad Capital Territory as well as all the four provinces have their respective consumer protection laws: the Islamabad Consumer Protection Act of 1995, the NWFP Consumer Protection Act of 1997, the Balochistan Consumer Protection Act of 2003, Punjab Consumer Protection Act of 2005 and the Sindh Consumer Protection Ordinance of 2007. The Islamabad Consumer Protection Act of 1995, under Section 6, empowers the sessions court to entertain complaints; and the high court exercises appellate jurisdiction under Section 10. The NWFP law does not specifically mention for the establishment of separate consumer courts but Section 14 of the Act says that the district magistrate or a magistrate may entertain complaints pertaining to consumer protection issues. Section 17 of the said Act invests the sessions court with the appellate jurisdiction against the orders of the authority or the magistrate as the case may be. In Balochistan, Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act of 2003 requires a consumer court to be presided over by a judge or judicial magistrate; while under section 18 of the Act, the appeal may lie with the sessions court or the high court. The Punjab Consumer Protection Act of 2005 provides for the establishment of consumer courts to be presided over by a district judge and the Lahore High Court has got the appellate jurisdiction. The Sindh Consumer Protection Ordinance of 2007, under Section 17, speaks of the establishment of consumer tribunals to be presided over by an executive district officer (revenue) or person qualified to be appointed so. The orders of the consumer tribunals are appealable to the district coordination officer under Section 24 of the Act.
All five consumer protection statutes also make provisions for the establishment of consumer councils of which the members are taken from the executive and the proceedings of these councils are exempt from judicial scrutiny. The composition, powers and functions of these councils differ from province to province. Moreover, the scope of rights and liabilities of sellers and buyers also differ. This disparity in the exercise of original and appellate jurisdiction has given rise to nothing except frequent violations of consumer rights in Pakistan.
Developed countries have placed the issue of consumer protection as one of their top priorities but in Pakistan, even the Federal Legislative List of the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution makes no mention of this important subject. In Pakistan, despite the promulgation of the Competition Act of 2010 and the establishment of the Competition Commission, no substantial improvement has been noticed in the standard of products available in the markets. In fact, the privately-run Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP) established in 1998 and registered under the Trust Act of 1882 is contributing voluntarily to spreading consumer rights awareness.
The independence of judiciary, which is an essential feature of the Constitution, demands that all special courts and tribunals be placed under the control and supervision of the judiciary. Moreover, the National Judicial Policy of 2009, specifically addressed this issue and a clear direction was made to the federal/provincial governments to make necessary amendments to the relevant laws to this effect. Despite that, the domain of consumer justice is still partly under the control of executive authorities.
Syeda Saima Shabbir
Research and reference officer
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Published in The Express Tribune, December 29th, 2012.
