Why have DNCRP drives been put on hold?

It is quite confounding that the drives carried out by the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) recently, with the aim to identify the hospitals, dispensaries and diagnostic centres charging people more than the government-declared fees for dengue tests and selling medicines for mosquito control at very high prices, have been brought to a pause for reasons we fail to understand. During the last two weeks, the DNCRP drives resulted in many hospitals facing fines ranging from Tk 40,000 to Tk 1 lakh. According to a DNCRP official, "a verbal order from the high-ups" resulted in the drives being suspended and a director of the organisation said that the decision came from the commerce ministry which DNCRP falls under.

While a senior secretary to the commerce ministry said no directive to the DNCRP has been given to suspend the drives, he stated that the ministry voiced concerns about inspections interrupting services at the hospitals because they are time-consuming and that this is something DNCRP officials should keep in mind. Regardless of whether or not the DNCRP was verbally ordered to put their drives on hold, the fact remains that DNCRP officials have not been seen conducting drives in the last few days.

The fact that the DNCRP drives have reportedly been put on hold at a time when the number of dengue cases has reached an all-time high in the country's history, is bemusing. At the end of the day, the drives were in public interest and acted as a possible deterrence to hospitals and clinics—many overflowing with dengue patients—exploiting ordinary people, particularly the poorer sections of society. Furthermore, we find little merit in the argument that the drives can hamper hospital services because they are "time-consuming". How lengthy can these investigations be whose aim is to simply identify if customers are being over-charged, and fine the relevant hospitals? Especially if steps are taken to ensure hospitals cooperate with investigations, there is no reason why the latter should take up time and interrupt medical services.

The move to suspend DNCRP drives at a critical time such as this—when the country is experiencing a public health crisis and when there is more scope for hospitals and dispensaries to exploit patients—only serves to protect corporate interests. The DNCRP drives should be resumed at the earliest.