Consumer protection

The Power and Energy Ministry has set up a Consumer Consultative Committees (CCC) through which electricity consumers can now present their grievances and also offer suggestions and opinions to the Public Utilities Commission - the regulatory authority covering the power sector- for follow up action.

This indeed is a welcome move since hitherto the CEB had the last word on all disputes with the consumers rendered helpless. They (the consumers) now have the Consultative Committee which will take matters to the PUC on their behalf. They can also inform the PUC about power piracy and other illegal acts pertaining to the use of electricity.

Launching the Consumer Consultative Committees Monday, Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said with the establishment of the Consultative Committee, acts of the CEB too can be questioned and brought to the notice of the PUC. It is no secret that some of the large scale power piracy taking place is done with the connivance of CEB employees and these can now be exposed by the public through the CCC.

Speaking on the occasion PUC Chairman Dr Jayatissa de Costa said protecting the rights of power consumers is a priority in the Mahinda Chintana Idiri Dekma Policy and to do so the active participation of consumers is required.

The perennial problem confronting electricity consumers is the high electricity bills. More often than not these inflated bills are due to errors on the part of the CEB. But the public so far has had no choice but to pay up. Now they have the CCC to attend to their grievances who will function as an Ombudsman of a sort.

Indeed such a body to represent the electricity consumer was a long-felt need. This is more so due to the arbitrary action by the CEB that stood in judgement of disputes arising from various problems such as inflated billing.

They (the consumers) were often not offered any relief such as easy settlement terms of the disputed bills. In short, the CEB lorded it over the consumers who did not have recourse to relief. The CCC will now take up all matters pertaining to disputes and intervene where necessary.

There is also a crying need for such a consumer body to be represented in all other areas and not just the power sector. Today, consumers are cheated in many ways and have no recourse to relief. They are being overcharged,foisted with substandard goods and even abused.

True, we have a Consumer Protection Authority but apart from carrying out periodic raids on the premises of errant traders it has manifestly failed to act as an effective deterrent to halt the exploitation of the consumer who are being fleeced through various ingenious methods.

Today, consumers are affected not merely by heavy pricing of goods or short weight. They also run the risk of health hazards due to poor quality of goods sold in the market. There is a big question mark over the quality of some of the goods on the shelves of the big supermarkets.

We often come across stories in the newspapers of outdated items being sold and various objects found inside foods catered to by upmarket eating houses. No doubt consumers also fall prey to alluring advertisements to market products that are of questionable health value.

Hence the need for a consumer protection body with sufficient powers which would not only go into aspect of pricing but also ensure proper safety standards.

As for the consumers themselves, they ought to get organized. In most western countries there are powerful consumer lobbies whose calls for boycott of goods are so effective that manufacturers and traders are forced to fall in line. The lack of such a body in our country has allowed the culprits to go scot-free.

The Consumer Protection Authority for its part should be more pro active where the interests and welfare of the consumers are concerned.

Instead of the occasional raid to nab some errant traders in the Pettah it should expand its activities far and wide to ensure the consumer is protected from exploitation and trade manipulations.

Our consumers are already burdened by the high cost of living. The least that could be done on their behalf is to ensure that they get value for money.