HC asks DNCRP to launch hotline service in 3 months

The High Court (HC) on Tuesday ordered the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) to launch a hotline service in three months to receive complaints from consumers.

The HC also asked the Finance Ministry and the Commerce Ministry to allocate necessary fund for this without any delay.  

The HC bench, consisting of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Md Badruzzaman, issued the directive after hearing a writ petition, filed earlier to this end.

Before the hearing, the court asked Rafsanjani Shami, a Call Centre Expert, to provide the court with the detail cost of outsourcing of launching the hotline. 

“It will cost a total of Tk5 lakh per month for launching the hotline through outsourcing,” Rafsanjani told the court in reply.

During the hearing, Shamim Al Mamun, a director (admin and finance division) of the DNCRP, asked for apology to the HC, On behalf of the directorate, saying that he had forgotten the matter of “outsourcing” while seeking budget amounting to Tk50 lakh for installing the hotline.

The HC bench fixed October 15 for further hearing on the issue.

Earlier on August 20, the HC summoned Shamim to explain the reason behind the DNCRP’s budget proposal of Tk50 lakh for the purpose.

On June 16, the same bench directed the DNCRP to install the hotline within two months. According to the DNCRP, subsequently the directorate formed a five-member committee, headed by Shamim Al Mamun, to this end.

The committee met with the BTRC and the two government bodies came up with an estimated Tk50 lakh budget to launch the hotline.

On July 14, Harun-uz-Zaman, the Director General of DNCRP at the time, sent a letter to the Commerce Ministry, seeking the estimated fund for purchasing necessary equipment for installing the hotline. 

However, in the 2019-2020 fiscal, only Tk2 lakh has been allocated for the project.