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| Sunday, 17 February 2002 |
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Strengthening the hands of the consumer The Federation of Consumer Associations of Sri Lanka (FOCAS) will take steps to network and strengthen voluntary consumer associations in Sri Lanka to reach grass roots levels. President of FOCAS Leel Gunasekera, addressing a conference on 'Strengthening Consumer Rights: A Concerted Initiative', said: "There are about 4,000 consumer organisations in the country but most of them are inactive. Therefore, we want to network and invigorate the consumer associations to reach the grass roots levels." He said the common man as well as other sectors of society should be able to express their views on consumer affairs with regard to prices, quality and quantity. "It is necessary to educate people on their rights vis-a-vis consumer protection and they need to be alert to various market situations." He holds the view that coordination with the Department of Internal Trade, Fair Trading Commission, Sri Lanka Standards Institution, the private sector and voluntary organisations should be strengthened. A study in 1993 proposed that the Fair Trading Commission Act and the Consumer Protection Act be merged to form the Commission on Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading following the strategy of most other countries. It was noted that a proposal has been developed to establish the Consumer Protection Authority of Sri Lanka. As a result of another important recommendation, the FOCAS was formed in 1996 to bring all consumer associations under one umbrella. He said that the lack of consumer research in Sri Lanka hampers the welfare of the consumer. Representative from the Consumers International Network on Corporate Social Responsibility of Germany, Volkmar Luebke said the best methods of consumer protection are educating, informing and advising consumers as well as influencing consumers and producers. Speaking on the theme 'Consumer Rights in Germany', he said the best way to protect the consumer is fair competition. The consumer is protected at federal, state and local level in addition to several organisations established for consumer protection. Consumer protection in Germany dates back to 1951. He said that consumer rights can be protected by negotiations between the consumer and the organisation, lobbying, campaigning and education. Mr Luebke remarked that "since everybody is a consumer, it is our responsibility to campaign for consumer rights rather than wait for somebody else to do it for us". Rohan Edirisinha from the Centre for Policy Alternatives, commenting on the government's new draft of the Consumer Protection Bill, said: "It is a government protection bill rather than a consumer protection bill". It mainly deals with the Consumer Protection Authority rather than protect the consumer per se. The bill should deal with the rights of the consumer rather than those of institutions. Edirisinha said that Indian legislation on consumer protection is about 15 years old but covers all aspects of consumer protection including all goods and services. It has a special section on "basic rights" of the consumer. Freedom of information law and consumer protection should be complementary and the bill should be reviewed in respect of devolution of power. Bharath Jairaj of the Citizens Consumer and Civic Action Group Chennai, addressing the gathering said that consumer protection was unheard of 25 years ago. Consumers had to be content with the monopoly. Poverty and illiteracy were the main reasons for low consumer education. Since the middle income group started to increase, public interest grew and legislation got off the ground in the 1980s. In India, a complaint is adequate to probe the violation of a consumer protection law and it does not require a court fee or a lawyer. "We give a time limit of 30 days for the other party to make representations and if found guilty, charges are refunded while compensation is paid." Organisations formed for the purpose of consumer rights should look after the consumer since the average consumer cannot afford to protect himself or herself, he added. The conference was organised by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in association with FOCAS, National Consumer Watch of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Housewives Association, Law and Society trust, Institute of Policy Studies, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Department of Internal Trade and the Fair Trading Commission. |
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