The Consumers International (CI) has planned observing this year’s World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) with the fervent call, “Fix Our Phone Rights,” when consumers around the world will utter the slogan together.
Bangladesh, as a partner of this global plea, is observing the day on Saturday like many other countries to establish and ensure rights of phone users in the country that already exceeded 11 crore in cell-phone subscribers apart from the land phone users.
The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) in association with the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) is organizing a day-long seminar on the day at the city’s CIRDAP auditorium.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed will inaugurate the seminar when commerce secretary Mahbub Ahmed, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose and Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed will be special guests.
Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Mustafizur Rahman will attend the programme as the guest of honour. Bangladesh Computer Samity Chairman Mustafa Zabbar will present the keynote paper.
The objectives of the day are to ensure that consumers have access to an affordable and reliable service, have fair contracts explained in clear, complete and accessible language, have security and power over their own information and get fair and transparent billing from the companies that listen and respond to consumer complaints.
“For WCRD 2014, we are calling on CI Members and Supporters to highlight the consumer issues that are undermining and frustrating the success of mobile phone services,” the CI said in a web-statement.
It said the agenda sets out the issues that most effect consumers including the need for access to a reliable service, the security of their data and fair contracts and billing.
CI will submit the Agenda to the World Telecommunications Development Conference, held by the International Telecommunications Union, where we will be calling on phone regulators and companies to take action to stop these issues undermining the success of this new technology.
According to CI, the global number of consumers using mobile services nears seven billion.
