KARACHI - The consumer has the right to refuse a substandard product in Pakistan.
This was stated by Speaker Provincial Assembly Sindh Nisar Khuhro at the 6th National Conference on “Putting the Consumer First”, organized by Helpline Trust at a local hotel here on Thursday, to commemorate World Consumers Rights Day.
Khuhro, agreed, amidst a loud applause, to adapt the Consumer Protection Ordinance, which the province of Sindh still does not have.
There is no doubt that we need the ordinance and I am here to assure you that I will take it seriously now”, he assured the organizer and the audience.
Speaking to the occasion Hamid Maker, Chairman Helpline, said in Pakistan, consumer laws are a provincial matter and there are only three consumer protection ordinances in Islamabad, Balochistan and Punjab. Sindh is still without a consumer protection law and consumer courts.
In a society where awareness of consumer interests is still in its infancy, there is a need for regulation on part of the government and activism on the part of civil society to ensure protection of consumer rights”, he added.
Justice (Retd) Saiduzzaman Siddiqui who chaired a session of the conference, said, “In Pakistan a consumer is a king but without a crown” implying that they have no rights. “Since 1986 we are still awaiting the birth of the institution competent to provide relief to the consumer”, he said.