A number of visitors at the Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) 2019 have lodged complaints with the authorities concerned against violation of consumer rights by the traders.
Their allegations included overpricing, selling of expired and substandard products, and not using price tags.
The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP), the national watchdog, received 35 written complaints from the visitors till Monday.
Taslima Akter Sumi, one of the visitors who lodged a written complaint with the DNCRP, told the FE that a footwear brand provided her with a substandard pair of shoes.
Despite her request, she alleged, the company representatives at the DITF venue did not address the issue duly.
"The shoes tore off within a couple of days since I bought those from the DITF stall. But they denied alter the pair even after my repeated requests," she added.
Ms. Sumi also alleged that the salespeople of the stall also ridiculed her by saying: "Do whatever you can."
In such a helpless situation, she went to the DNCRP centre setup at the fair venue.
Following an intervention by the DNCRP officials, the brand's representatives agreed to give her a new pair of shoes.
Another consumer Mainul Islam complained against a foreign pavilion for selling poor quality products and not tagging the expiry dates on the products.
Elaborating the incident, he said that from a foreign pavilion at the DITF he bought sweet tamarind, which was later found inedible due to infestation.
"I found white small pests in most of the tamarinds kept in the box," he said, adding two days after the purchase on January 26, he went to the pavilion asking for a change. "The second package was worse than the previous one," he added.
Mr. Islam also said he travelled from the city's Mirpur area to the fair venue for third time to settle the issue.
The pavilion owner misbehaved with him as approached to make them comprehend the image of an international event like the DITF, he added. "At one point, they brought counter allegation against me saying that I brought the goods from other sellers."
Finding no solution to his problem, he finally filed a complaint with the DNCRP.
Contacted, Monjur Mohammad Shahriar, Deputy Director of the DNCRP Dhaka Divisional Office, said his team has been watchful on the businesses in the fair.
They conduct regular raids to check the irregularities and based on the grievances filed by the consumers, he said.
"We have so far fined various businesses Tk 2,79,000 for various allegations during our monitoring drive," said Mr. Monjur. In addition, Tk 1,48,000 has been recovered based on written complaints by the consumers.
He added that the DNCRP also received and settled over 100 objections verbally.
Besides the DNCRP, the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), organiser of the fair, also addresses similar issues.
Mohammad Abdur Rouf, Member Secretary of the DITF organising authorities and EPB Deputy Director, said they received some complaints against irregularities.
"We received around 10 complaints regarding consumer rights violation and other irregularities," he said.
In response to a query, he said: "When we receive repeated complaints against a particular business entity, we blacklist them so that they cannot take part in the fair."
saif.febd@gmaiil.com