ALTHOUGH the Sindh Consumer Protection Act, 2014, has already been passed by the Sindh Assembly and later on approved by the Sindh Governor, no further progress on its implementation has been made. No rules and regulations for the act have been framed, neither consumer courts nor consumer protection councils established.
This has led to a denial of the citizens` of their rights to protect against exploitation by market forces. This is also in violation of their constitutional right of f air trial under Article 10 A, where no recourse for complaint and appeal has been provided by the Sindh government.
This apathy of the Sindh government is in contrast to that of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab governments, where not only their respective provincial consumer protection acts are operational, but their respective rules and regulations have been framed and gazetted.
Also, the KP government has established 15 consumer courts while the Punjab government has set up 11 consumer courts to provide relief.
It is imperative that the Sindh government undertake the following measures to make its Consumer Protection Act operational: appoint, as per the Act, a consumer protection council, consumer courts and frame rules as per section 39 of the Act.
Without these measures, legislation will be an exercise in futility.
