In early August last year, Sohrab Hossain, a resident of Chittagong, bought a bottle of cough syrup for Tk 80 from a local retailer.

Once he went back home, he realised that he was cheated as the shopkeeper charged him Tk 20 more than the usual price inscribed on the label.

Sohrab, an assistant manager of Abdul Monem Limited, went to the shop later and asked the seller to return the extra money. But the shopkeeper was negligent in repaying the money.

The next day, Soharab lodged a complaint with the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP). 

Upon receiving the complaint, the consumers' rights body the same month fined the dishonest retailer Tk 5,000 for cheating the consumer.

"The incident opened my eyes. I started realising that other shopkeepers had also been cheating me over the years in a similar fashion," said Sohrab.  

He said he was not aware that he had rights as a consumer until he came to know about the DNCRP through Facebook.

"The way the body came forward responding to my call was simply amazing," he said.

Sohrab is one of several other complainants who got remedy from the directorate. Though the amount of complaints being lodged with the directorate is not significant, the good sign is that the number is gradually increasing.

Record says, in the last four years as of February 2018, Chittagong divisional office of DNCRP received 745 complaints from aggrieved consumers.

Of them, 682 complaints have been disposed of. The consumer rights body is investigating the rest.

As per the data, the issue of protecting consumer rights is getting momentum, which is a good sign, said Mohammad Hasanuzzaman, assistant director of DNCRP in Chittagong.

"We took a range of steps to publicise the law even at union level so that people can reap the utmost benefit of the law," said Hasanuzzaman.

"In this regard, we held at least 30 seminars at upazila level in the last year to create awareness among the consumers," he said.

Though the shortage of manpower is hampering their activities, they are exerting their best effort to make people aware of the law, he said.

Contacted, Delwar Mojumdar, national assembly member of Transparency International Bangladesh, said there are no other countries in the world like Bangladesh where consumer rights are violated every now and then.

In most of the purchase, consumers get deceived by the shopkeepers, he said.

The law made in protecting consumers' rights should be publicised so that people become aware of their rights, he said, adding, "The law comes of no value if people do not know about it."

SM Nazer Hossain, Chittagong chapter president of Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said DNCRP is trying to act alone.

To make people aware of their rights, the body needs to take a coordinated effort incorporating different stakeholders, he added.