Islamabad needs to have a consumer council to overlook the implementation and efficacy of a consumer protection act passed in 1995. This was said by Islamabad District Court Additional & Session Judge Kamran Basharat Mufti at a workshop in Islamabad on Wednesday, said a press release.
The day-long workshop featured 20 lawyers invited by the TheNetwork for Consumer Protection to discuss about and activate the “dormant” Islamabad Consumer Protection Act 1995, said the press release. The act is applicable to the entire Islamabad Capital Territory but little has been done to implement it since its passing in 1995.
Justice Mufti recommended that the council should mainly consist of bureaucrats and eminent people from the capital and the associations of consumers. Once active, people will need to approach the consumer court only after exhausting all these forums.
“Until and unless the Islamabad Consumer Protection Council is formed the consumer courts cannot provide redress effectively to the consumers under the Islamabad Consumer Protection Act 1995,” Mufti said.
Nadeem Iqbal, Executive Coordinator of TheNetwork, briefed the participants about the nature of three types of regulations — self, co and third party — to make the consumer redress framework more effective in consumer sector.
He said that NEPRA and OGRA laws provide for the effective contribution of consumers in the open hearings for price determination of the tariff, but the consumer representation is negligible.
The workshop also focused on the energy sector laws and regulations, in light of past events where the twin cities experienced violent electricity protests that affected thousands of people.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2012.
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