To commemorate World Consumer Rights Day, Helpline Trust had organized a seminar on “Putting The Consumer First” at a local hotel.
The objectives of the seminar were to highlight the issues relating to consumer rights and consumer protection, create awareness against sub-standard, adulterated and counterfeit products and services and the need for Consumer Protection Laws and Consumer Courts.
The Seminar covered a range of topics relating to CP Laws, CSR, IPR, enforcement of existing laws and standards and the Role of Consumer Protection Organizations in monitoring these laws.
Hamid Maker, Founder Trustee, Helpline Trust, in his opening remarks stated that due to the absence of Consumer Protection laws and enforcement of existing laws, the markets in Pakistan are flooded with sub-standard, look alike and counterfeit products and Pakistan has become a ‘number do’ nation.
This has affected our exports and has also tarnished our image in the international markets. He added that there is a need for regulation on part of the Government and activism on part of civil society to ensure protection of consumer rights.
Mr. Khalid Aziz Mirza, the Key Note speaker and Chairman, Competition Commission of Pakistan, stated that CCP had taken the initiative to break the hold of the powerful cartels, which were manipulating government policies and prices of essential items, to make unlawful profits.
He stated that CCP had taken effective action against the sugar, cement and oil industries and has taken against the banking sector and cellular companies over the last few years. And that is why these powerful cartels are trying weaken the CCP laws and even trying to close it.
The seminar was also addressed by Mr. Zaffar A. Khan, Former Chairman, PTCL, PIA, KSE & Engro Foods Limited, who stated that for a Company to put its " consumer first " goes beyond just good intentions. Going past the awareness stage, the Company needs to develop channels that allow close and frequent direct contact with the consumer. This is necessary to ensure that the communication link between the Company & the Consumer is not vulnerable to distortion of information
Mr. Shahid Salim, CEO, Intertek Pakistan (Pvt) Limited & Advisor, Helpline Trust said that buzz words like CSR and consumer first are used as marketing tools by many companies. He stressed about need of knowing our rights as consumer and we should strive for it. He said “To provide value for money is responsibility of seller and to demand it is consumers’ right.”
Ms. Ingrid Eckert-Prinz, Director, Prinz Pvt. Ltd., & Advisor, Helpline Trust stated that Ralf Nader, the Father of Consumer Protection movement, in his first consumer safety action, took up the case of GM, the automobile giants for marketing a defective car, the Corvair, manufactured by the Chevrolet division of GM.
The car had been involved in many accidents and there were over 100 lawsuits pending against GM in connection to accidents involving the compact car. These lawsuits provided the initial material for Nader's investigations into the safety of the car.
She stated that the consumers in Pakistan have to change their mindset and examine as to what have we done as a consumer and take effective action, demand our rights and ensure that the manufactures and service providers, provide us quality products and services at a fair price and do not cheat us.
Justice (Retd) Saiduzzaman Siddiqui, in his closing address, gave details of the laws relating to consumer protection in countries like Pakistan, India and USA and made comparative study about them and emphasized the urgent need for awareness programme to educate the consumers about their rights.
At the end of the seminar, the former CJ distributed Helpline Trust’s ‘Putting Consumer First Awards’ to 11 leading companies, who had qualified for the above awards.
Helpline Trust – “We Care”
