Consumer societies inactive
The Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka
(FCCISL)and the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) celebrated World
Consumer Day by jointly organising a forum at the IPS auditorium
recently.
World Consumer Day was declared on March 15, 1963, with the address
given by President John F Kennedy to the US Congress raising global
awareness about consumer rights. The theme of this year's World Consumer
Day was “our Money, our rights”. Consumer International has chosen this
theme in view of the adverse impact that has befallen consumers in the
aftermath of the 2008 financial crises due to the subprime debt issue
and the current financial crises stemming from western financial
institutions due to the sovereign debt issue. This year's theme is
applicable to the local situation due to the unpleasant experience
consumers had in 2008.
The keynote address was delivered by ambassador Sarath Wijesinghe who
was former chairman of the Consumer Affairs Authority of Sri Lanka.
He drew the attention of a variety of regulatory organisations such
as Public Utilities Commission (Electricity), Telecommunication
Regulatory Authority, Financial ombudsman, Insurance ombudsman, and
Legislative enactments such as trade mark ordinance, IP Act, Drugs
Ordinance, Food and Drugs Act, Cosmetic Devise Act, the Sri Lanka
Standard Act and the Consumer Affairs Authority operating in the country
to safeguard and protect the interest of consumers. Unfortunately,
consumer activism and organisations responsible to protect consumers in
Sri Lanka do not demonstrate the required level of enthusiasm to
protect, promote and safeguard consumer interest in respect of goods and
services available in the country.
According to the IPS research study conducted with the Consumer Unity
and Trust Society (CUTS), around $ two billion savings can be made
benefiting the consumer, in consumer spending if trade between south
Asian countries is conducted through meaningful regional trading
arrangements.
The forum also noted that consumer societies in Sri Lanka were not
active as desired due to a variety of reasons. One reason is that,
though the establishment and forming of a society is relatively an easy
task, the sustainability of such societies is the main problem. The Sri
Lankan consumer does not receive immediate material benefit in joining
such societies. It has been found that regulatory authorities should be
more responsible in providing redress to the consumer voice which would
then certainly enhance the credibility of the regulatory authority.
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