About Us
Vision, Mission & Strategic Goals
A vibrant economy characterized by fair and vigorous competition and consumer access to accurate information.
Protecting consumers and competition by preventing anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices through law enforcement, advocacy, and education without unduly burdening legitimate business activity.
- Prevent unfair and deceptive practices that are detrimental to consumers in the marketplaces,
- Prevent unfair methods of competition that affects individiual businesses and the economy in general and are detrimental to consumers in the marketplaces,
- Advance CCAA through excellence in managing resources, human capital and information technology
Terms of Reference
The broad functions of the Consumer Empowerment and Economics Division (CEED) will be:
- consumer empowerment through advocacy and education,
- advocacy and promotion of competition in the markets, and
- provide expert knowledge related to the market trends and economic impacts of the CCAA’s legislation and operation. Specifically, it will:
- Disseminate information and educate public about rules & regulations and policies on consumer protection and competition;
- Carry out consumer education need assessment, identify priority areas and target groups for capacity building;
- Educate consumers about their legal rights as consumers. Formulate consumer protection advocacy materials and broadcast to all consumers, while focusing on vulnerable groups;
- Keep abreast of changing global trade practices and advancement of marketing products and tools so as to keep Bhutanese consumers aware and protected from deceptive schemes;
- Educate big and small business entities about their obligations to consumers in line with the prevailing rules and regulations;
- Educate all business entities on policies and rules governing anticompetitive practices in the market. Formulate advocacy programs avowing benefits of market competition, illegality and perniciousness of anticompetitive behavior on overall economy and disseminate;
- Develop, co-ordinate and manage a vibrant interactive website and official social media accounts – disseminating all relevant information and gathering feedback from the public;
- Create regular news bulletins, press releases, fact sheets, monthly, biannually and annual reports and other advocacy material for disseminations via various information media;
- Spearhead development of institutional linkages with other agencies – both local or international, as per government protocols – to improve the Authority’s capacity;
- Ensure a functioning Consumer Dispute Settlement Committee at all required locations as per rules and regulations;
- Carry out market surveys and research related to consumer protection and competition and provide recommendation for intervention;
- Analyze and recommend formulation and/ or amendments of policies and legislation that may spur better consumer protection and greater competition;
- Publish market price information of essential commodities on a regular basis;
- Carry out Competition Impact Assessment (CIA) of existing and new proposed laws, bye-laws, policies, etc. to ensure the provisions are in line with the national competition policy;
- Spearhead formulation of relevant bills, rules and regulations and guidelines, when required;
- Prepare FYP, annual work plans, annual budget and annual performance agreement of the agency and ensure timely and effective implementation;
- Act as a secretariat to Board (currently Consumer Board and Competition Council) and follow up implementation of the resolutions;
- Carry out any other additional functions as required by the Board, ministry or the management.
The CPCED will be charged with the enforcement of all rules and regulations designed to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive trade practices and ensure business do not adopt anti-competitive practices in the market. Specifically, it will:
- Investigate veritable complaints to redress consumers and mediate, settle dispute penalize guilty businesses or finally litigate, as per the Standard Operating Protocol (SOP);
- Proactively conduct regular monitoring of markets to check compliance to rules and regulations pertaining to fair trade and anti-competitive practices in the market;
- Liaise with other regulatory bodies or other departments to monitor, investigate and/or report, on consumer and competition issues, that have the required technical expertise;
- Provide regular (i) consumer grievance and redressal statistics and (ii) complaints and actions taken on anti-competitive behavior, to CEED for reporting and dissemination;
- Ensure open and functional channels for consumers and businesses to make complaints – using online complaint system, toll-free telephone, email, written letter or walk-in;
- Manage a comprehensive Consumer Complaint Management System (CCMS), – which is an online database of complaints and redressal actions taken;
- Keep abreast of emergence of new goods and services or marketing schemes that may have impact on Bhutanese consumers and market competition;
- Act as a secretariat to Dispute Settlement Committees and facilitate resolution of consumer grievances;
Carry out any other work as directed by Board, ministry or the management.