Why do we pay so much more?

Consumers in Bangladesh are the ones whose rights have long been overlooked. Though some consumer protection mechanisms have been developed and put in force over the last couple of years here, the consumers still fall far behind their peers in enjoying their rights. In fact, consumer protection in Bangladesh never got the attention it deserves from the government. For example, neighbouring India took less than two years to formulate and enforce its national consumer protection statute since the United Nations adopted Guidelines for Consumer Protection in 1965, whereas Bangladesh took long 24 years for it. Still the mechanisms in India have been made far stronger than those in Bangladesh with the Indian law providing for quasi-judicial consumer rights commissions at the federal, state and district levels accommodating representatives from stakeholders and Bangladesh one establishing a fully government-controlled department led by bureaucrats. And Bangladeshi consumers are paying the price for this lapse every day. They are compelled to pay more than their peers in India do despite surprising similarities in economic standing of the two close-door neighbours. According to the World Bank, Bangladesh's nominal GDP per capita was estimated to be $2,593 US dollars in 2024 against 2,697 dollars in India. Still the cost burden on average families of the two countries differs sharply as the cost of most services and products are higher in Bangladesh than in India.

Let's take a few things as examples. A 32-kilometer ride on Kolkata's underground Metro Line 1 or Blue Line costs 25 rupees, equivalent to 35 Bangladesh taka whereas Dhaka's much shorter elevated 20-kilometer MRT Line 6 charges fares of taka 80. It needs to be noted there that the construction of subways or underground metros involves much higher cost than those built on the surface or on elevated platforms.  Again, a 500-milliliter bottle of water sells at 10 rupees (equivalent to taka 14) at the retail level in India but an equivalent volume of bottled water costs taka 20 in Bangladesh.

This price disparity is not simply currency conversion. It reflects national policy choices, governance, economic priorities, etc. There are a few valid reasons behind the disparity, but there are some unfounded reasons too. It is true that larger population, stronger production base, greater percentage of locally sourced raw materials, more efficient supply chain, subsidies in fields, particularly public transit, in India allow systems to keep their costs low, but Bangladesh authorities overlooking public interest, failure in checking corruption and handling syndicates, and inefficiencies at different levels contribute a lot to enhancing the cost of products and services. For example, Kolkata Metro is deeply integrated into public transport systems where fare adjustments are coupled with political and social priorities. But in Bangladesh, fare pricing is driven by investor cost recovery, which couples with limited subsidy, corruption, and weaker consumer protection allow higher charges. We all have come across media reports on how the construction cost of government infrastructures keeps going up and goes far beyond peers of Bangladesh.

Now the question is if we can address the higher cost issue in Bangladesh. We should and we can. But it will not be easy. It will require the government to prioritise public interest over anything and take multipronged actions such as checking corruption in both public and private sectors, addressing inefficiencies in the part of service providers and in supply chain, and dismantling syndicates. Otherwise, our consumers will keep paying through the nose.

rahmansrdk@gmail.com