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Dialogue on consumer and business protection through market monitoring

Absence of proper effective market supervision, artificial crisis, low quality of products, extortion and insecurity in the transportation of goods, complexity in the import process, lack of storage facilities, distrust among the traders and consumers, lack of fair competition in the market, the consumers as well as the businesses sometimes have to suffer sudden price hike in the local market due to supply and demand crunch, especially in the essential commodities. Speakers told these at a multi-stakeholders dialogue on consumer and business protection through market monitoring organized by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) on July 19, 2025.

Administrator of Dhaka South City Corporation Md. Shahjahan Mia, Director General of Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection Mohammed Alim Akhter Khan, Member of Bangladesh Competition Commission Dr. Md. Akhtaruzzaman Talukder and Member of Bangladesh Food Safety Authority Professor Dr. Mohammad Shoeb were present as guests of honour.

Razeev H Chowdhury, Acting President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) chaired the discussion and said that despite the continuous expansion of the country's economic activities, consumers, especially small and medium enterprises, are constantly facing challenges due to price manipulation, artificial crisis, low quality of products, complex regulations and various harassment in the market, which is reducing consumers’ confidence and ethical businessmen are struggling to survive in the competition. To deal with the prevailing situation, he laid emphasis on the formulation and effective implementation of an integrated framework of market supervision and the creation of an accountable and competitive market monitoring system.

Director General of Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection Mohammed Alim Akhter Khan, said that due to the middlemen, the price of goods in the market sometimes rise in many cases and there is a need for concerted efforts by government agencies to control the market. He said although the issue of effective market supervision is very important, but it is true that under his directorate in 64 Districts, there are 19 offices where there are no officers at all. So with limited workforce it is hard to monitor the big market. Later he also opined that it is essential to increase coordination among the agencies to respond faster. He also suggested reviewing the Consumer Rights Protection Act and aligning with other related regulations, acts and ordinances to minimize few smaller disparities.

Administrator of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Md. Shahjahan Mia also said that due to the middlemen in the transportation of goods and market management, the market is witnessing high prices, especially of essential commodities. He said the reputation of the ethical businessmen sometimes being hampered due to a small number of dishonest businessmen, so the ethical businessmen should come forward to take action against these dishonest businessmen. He later said that we all stakeholders should work in a coordinated manner so that we can build a happy and prosperous Bangladesh for the next generation.

Member of Bangladesh Competition Commission Dr. Md. Akhtaruzzaman Talukder said that having a fair competition in the market will bring benefits not only to the consumers but also to the traders. He opined that getting adequate information and regular research, related to the supply and actual demand of products can play an effective role in preventing unequal competition in the market.

Member of Bangladesh Food Safety Authority Professor Dr. Mohammad Shoeb said that his organization has been conducting regular drives to ensure safe food for consumers, but it is necessary to strengthen market monitoring activities in a coordinated manner. He also said that the market monitoring mechanism should adopt technology or digital services for better performance.

Haji Mohammad Golam Mowla, General Secretary, Moulovi Bazar Traders Association said that once there were 18 government sugar mills, but most of them are no longer operational, and the number of edible oil refineries is gradually decreasing, resulting in uneven competition in import-dependent essential products due to increasing dependence on a number of importers. He said that sometimes it has been observed that the profit margin between the wholesale rate and retail level are excessive. In that case, authority could fix the profit margin at the retail level to prevent excessive profitability.

Khandaker Monir Ahmed, Senior Vice President of Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association said that the demand of eggs is not the same at all times of the year. For example in the winter and Ramadan time the demand of eggs comes down. But the production cannot be reduced aligning with the demand at that time. He therefore suggested to establish adequate storage capacity system in the country to store the eggs for a certain period of time so that in the peak time these eggs can be consumed comparatively at a lower price. He later said that at present, there is an investment of about taka 55 thousand crore in the country's poultry sector, where about 6 million people are engaged, so the government needs to seriously consider this large industry.

Haji Abul Hashem, President, Sugar and Oil Traders Association requested the government to start closed sugar mills either under government’s initiative or in collaboration with the private sector, which will reduce our import dependence, increase fair competition in the market as well as create employment opportunities. To reduce the price of sugar at the consumer level, he proposed to reduce the tax imposed on it. Expressing concern over the incidents of extortion and truck hijacking in the transportation of goods in the high-way, he said the government along with the law enforcement agencies should take strict steps in this regard.

Md. Zakir Hossain, General Secretary, Bangladesh Super Market Owners’ Association said the market monitoring system in the country now is not adequate and also proposed to set up an effective monitoring cell with the direct coordination of the government and private sector representatives. Not only that, he also proposed to oversee or monitor the import of necessary items to ensure fair price and adequate supply in the local market.

President of Moulvibazar Traders’ Association Kazi Mohammad Bashir Uddin said that market monitoring is going on but not in a concerted manner. Regarding import of essential items, he requested the government to allow all to import the necessary items. He later suggested that only financial fines are not enough to curb unethical activities in the market rather implement punishment will bring good results instead.

Golam Sarwar Robin, Director of Bangladesh Cold Storage Association, said that the price of potatoes is relatively low this year, and for that reason the farmers are deprived of fair prices and it may discourage them from cultivating potatoes in the next season. He therefore requested the government to fix a fair price of potatoes next year so that the farmers can be benefited a bit.

Former Vice President of DCCI M Abu Hurairah suggested the city corporations to monitor the leasing system of different Bazars and market under these institutions especially in terms of over-rating by the changes of different hands because the inflated price has to be borne by the customer end of the day.

DCCI Directors Md. Zamsher Ali, Enamul Haque Patwary, former Senior Vice President Alhaj Abdus Salam also spoke on the occasion. DCCI Vice President Md. Salem Sulaiman was also present on the occasion.

Published on: 2025-07-19