In a highly controversial move, the apex body of computer traders have slapped a new regulation on the entire industry that would allow sellers to provide the maximum of only a one-year warranty on any new computer-related products sold to consumers.
The first ever warranty policy by the Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS) – which came into effect from December 1 – was lambasted by industry insiders, who claimed that it would deprive the end users and the retailers as well as ruining the possibility of business expansion for importers.
Claiming the move would narrow the scope of business, they added that the decision would prove damaging to the Tk3,000 market.
Signed by Md Shah Alam Siddique, executive director of the BCS, the order published on November 29 read: “The executive committee of the BSC expects through this move, the recession of hardware and computer business in the country will change.”
Although the BCS termed it a time-befitting policy, former president of the organisation, Mostafa Jabbar, told the Dhaka Tribune that the warranty policy would directly hurt the users’ interests.
“Warranty is the contract between users and the manufacturers, but these two parties are out of the scene here. The BCS has no right to fix the warranty limit as some of the computer products already have three to four years’ warranty,” he said yesterday.
Jabbar added that the organisation could not publish this type of policy without consulting its general members.
“It is not a decision of only seven executive members; this type of decision needs to come from general members – who are against it,” he added.
His view was also echoed by another former founding leader of the BCS, Abdullah H Kafi, who said the policy would not be accepted in the long run.
“The policy should be acceptable to all, especially the users; but I am frustrated with it,” said Kafi.
Partha Chowdhury, a distributor of Aptech Computer Institute in Sylhet’s Zindabazar, said his institute had alread implemented the warranty policy. Claiming that it might help their business, Partha admitted that it would adversely affect customers.
“No doubt this policy will help us to increase our sales, but at the same time it will cause some losses to the customers,” Partha told the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday.
Market sources said before the implementation of this policy, almost all monitors, motherboards, rams had three years’ warranty, hard disk drives had two years’ warranty and printers had one year warranty.
“Every two or three years, global brands change and update their products; so it is tough for us to fulfil the previous high warranty,” said Md Nijam Uddin, owner of ARK Solution from Barisal City Corporation Market.
Sources said the sellers previously often had to pay cash back to the consumers as the products they still had warranty to – were discontinued by manufacturers.
Mustafa Jabbar said the BCS was looking to give more flexibility to the importers and distributors as currently the computer business was not so lucrative compared to the market for tablets and smartphones.
“As far I know, this type of warranty policy does not exist in this region, and I think computer product manufacturers will laugh at this when they hear of it,” Jabbar added.
Sources said, previously only 10% products had a one-year warranty.
Despite repeated attempts by the Dhaka Tribune, BCS President Mahfuzul Arif neither picked up his phone nor replied to a text message.
However, BCS Joint Secretary SM Wahiduzzaman, also the convenor of the policy formulating committee, said all members of the BCS must follow this policy for establishing a regulation in computer products warranty.
