DNCRP to introduce hotline March 15  

The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) will introduce a hotline on March 15 through which consumers will be able to register formal complaints about products and services. 

The number – 16121 – will be open 24/7, and consumers will be able to register complaints from anywhere in the country.          

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi will introduce the hotline on March 15 to mark Consumers Rights Day, said Manjur Mohammad Shahriar, deputy director (Dhaka division) of the DNCRP.

"Consumers will be able to lodge complaints over any product or service to the number from anywhere in the country," he told The Business Standard on Thursday.     

The DNCRP said the complaint can be on any product or act of a manufacturer or service provider that deprives consumers of their rights, including overpricing, adulteration, fake product, fraud and cheating, fake packaging, sale of date-expired products and substandard food items.            

"For example, consumers will be able to complain about an unhygenic kitchen at a restaurant or eatery," added Manjur Mohammad Shahriar.

Sources at the directorate said a third-party organisation will help them run the hotline by appointing 30 staff members.      

Last year the High Court ordered the directorate to launch a hotline by outsourcing the service. The court also asked the commerce ministry to allocate funds for this without any bureaucratic tangle.  

The High Court ordered the DNCRP to submit an update on October 15 on introducing the number.