Businesses lead the economy to prosperity by creating new products or services in the country. In the same way, due to irregularities and immorality, consumers get cheated by buying faulty services or products. There are some specific policies for companies, sellers and service providers. The National Consumer Rights Act of Bangladesh monitors whether the consumers get the right products and services. As Bangladeshi citizens, the consumers will be able to lodge a complaint as per the law if they fall victim to any fraudulence. Let’s get to know the procedure for filing a complaint under Bangladesh’s National Consumer Rights Act if you get any faulty product and service. The Procedure for Complaints under the National Consumer Rights Act Assembling appropriate evidence Before filing a complaint, the complainant has to gather accurate evidence in support of the complaint. Receipt of purchasing goods or services must be given as an attachment to the complaint letter. In addition to this, a picture of the product and the store can also be given. Complaint form fill up First, the complainant needs to download the complaint form from the National Consumer Complaints Center box on the website of the National Consumer Rights Protection Department. Then he/she has to print the form and write the name of the district in the blank space of the recipient part.  Read AL profiteers’ foul play behind rice price hike: BNP After that, it is time to write the details of the complaint in the correct way. Complete information of the complainant along with the name of the parents should be mentioned. In this part, it is advisable to give the mobile number of the complainant.  Finally, the complainant needs to include the full name and address of the accused person or organization in the form. Now the previously collected product purchase receipt needs to be added to this form. Where to complain about getting cheated buying a faulty product or service The complainant has to go directly to the TCB (Trading Corporation of Bangladesh) building at Kawran Bazar with the completed form with attachments. Complaints are lodged in the office of the Assistant Director on the eighth floor. Complaints can also be lodged to the district magistrate. These submitted complaint forms are later forwarded to the Head of the Department.  Read 3 cops closed in Feni after complaint of mugging trader Fees It should be noted that no fee is required for filing a complaint under National Consumer Rights Act of Bangladesh when you get cheated purchasing any defective product and service. Complaint Settlement After filing the complaint, a case number will be given by the department. Then a letter will be sent to the complainant's address for a hearing within a month. Subsequently, the accused is fined and the punishment was meted out after verifying the allegations. 25 percent of the accrued fine is paid to the complainant. Read Following complaints, ACC launches drive against Jibon Bima MD How to complain online about getting cheated to buy a product Preparing documents for attachment Necessary evidence including the signature of the complainant and receipt of purchase of the product or service should be scanned or photographed and stored on the computer. Registering on the ‘My Gov’ website For online complaints, the complainant needs to navigate to the National Consumer Rights Complaints Service page of the MyGov website. It is required to register with the name and mobile number or email ID of the complainant. Once the registration is complete, the complainant can easily log in to his/her newly created account. Read BIWTA suspends operation of Surovi-9, lodges complaint against manager-staff Online form fill up for complaints Clicking on the new application from the menu displayed on the left side of the complainant's profile page, the system will show the web page of the national consumer complaint form. Here the complainant has to type his/her name, address, occupation, and parent's name. Now the most important thing is to describe the complaint. After that, the name and address of the accused organization are needed to enter. Uploading attachments and filing the complaint Now the picture of the signature previously saved on the computer needs to be attached by clicking on the small button next to the complainant's name. The last part is to upload other proofs including pictures of product purchase receipts. Through clicking on the ‘Submit’ button below, the complaint submission process will be completed. Read NBR chairman asks businesses to come directly with any complaints Terms of complaints The complaint must be submitted to the Director-General of the National Consumer Rights Protection Directorate or the officer in charge within thirty days of the occurrence of the relevant cause. Otherwise, the allegation will be dismissed. If the complainant is an officer of the department, he/she will not get 25 percent of the fine collected from the accused person or organization. Other means of filing the complaints Consumers can complain by fax, email, or even phone if they are being harassed when buying a product or service. The contact numbers are 0255013218 and 01777753668. They can be emailed at [email protected]. Complaints can also be lodged by calling the Consumer Hotline 16121. Read Police instructed not to impede good-laden vehicles without specific reason or complaint Bottom line Complaints under the National Consumer Rights Act of Bangladesh are indicative of the practice of democracy by every citizen. Unscrupulous businesses try to impose defective products on them by abusing the basic needs of the people. This often leads to harassment with the purchased product instead of spending the extra money. This is not only a violation of the basic rights of the people but also hampering their money and time. Proper and proactive implementation of the already defined Act can protect the people from this hassle.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) on Sunday suspended the operations of MV Surovi-9 over allegations of a technical glitch after a fire broke out on it Saturday night while carrying 300 passengers. Meanwhile, Barishal River Port officer Mostafizur Rahman lodged a complaint against the launch manager Mizan and other staff of the launch over the incident and for attacking the journalists. Mostafizur Rahman, the operation of the launch on Dhaka-Barishal-Dhaka route, will remain suspended until further notice. “The decision was taken followed by the chaotic situation created over the technical glitch and attack on journalists,” he said. Also read: Fire breaks out in Barishal-bound launch; Doused quickly Earlier two camerapersons lodged separate complaints against the manager over the incident of attack. According to camerapersons of Independent Television and two other private channels they were attacked around 11pm while recording video footage of the launch as it was brought to Barishal.  No damages or casualties were reported in the fire that originated in the engine room of MV Survi-9 launch as it was extinguished before it could spread. Kaiser Alam, BIWTA's Chandpur port officer said, passengers were sent to Barishal by another launch considering the security issue and MV Survi-9 has been docked at Mohanpur ghat. Also read: Jhalakathi launch fire: Probe body submits report On December 24, a deadly fire broke out in Barguna-bound launch MV Abhijan-10 carrying some 800 passengers from Dhaka and it engulfed the entire vessel within 10 minutes. The death toll from the fire accident reached 49 till January 3. Besides, over 70 people suffered injuries, and many of them are currently undergoing treatment at different hospitals.

Bangladesh’s rock icon James, popularly known as 'Nagar Baul’ James, lodged a complaint against mobile operator Banglalink for allegedly breaching the copyright law. Faruq Mahfuz Anam alias James appeared before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate KM Emrul Kayesh and lodged the complaint under section 71/82/91 over copyright issue. Read: Rock icon James to headline Brandmyth’s winter concert in city After the recording of James’ statement, the Magistrate asked five officials of Banglalink to appear before his court on November 30 and explain their role, said additional public prosecutor Taposh Kumar Pal.