The government plans to introduce a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Act. This will encourage businesses, including multinational corporations, to contribute to community projects. Currently the choice is largely left up to the companies themselves.
NGOs are also contributing goods and funds to various communities projects through CSR at their own will.
Speaking during the two days training workshop on Tax reporting to reporters last week in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Manager Tax Payers Service and Education, Diana Masalla said the government is looking forward to introducing a law on CSR to ensure that corporate companies are contributing to social wellbeing of the people.
"There is ongoing discussion in the government on how the best way to handle the CSR act that will be useful to the country and the social wellbeing of the people in Tanzania," she said.
In Tanzania, firms from various sectors such as energy, gas, mineral, oil and financial services, set aside a certain percentage from their annual profits for CSR.
She said the enacted laws will regulate the CSR and pave the way for the government to evaluate companies' profits and their contributions to CSR annually but with long term plans to develop mutual relationship between firms and communities across the country.
Couple of years, Tanzania Consumer Advocacy Society had conducted a Consumer Survey that revealed the level of consumer awareness in Tanzania particularly on consumers' rights, perception and attitudes with respect to businesses' accountability and responsiveness to consumers' needs and interests in Tanzania.
The survey was conducted in five regions in Tanzania Mainland - Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Coastal Region, and Mwanza.
Survey revealed that there is very low Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Tanzania Consumer.
The survey revealed that there is poor public transportation system which is characterised by: congestion and delays; uncomfortable travelling conditions; poor vehicle condition; poor customer services; increased road accidents.
And in most cases there is none or slow action towards genuine complaints- over inflated bills, poor products, professional misconduct and delay on installation of service on water and power.
On the other hand; the market is full of cheating on weights and measurements; there is a lot of under-weights of goods from retail shops, butchery, hardware-cement etc and also there is poor calibration and adulteration for food like cow milk and gasoline at fuel station.
Presence of counterfeit goods which are not durable, poor in quality, unsafe, false labeling and changing of expiry date on products- food, cosmetics and medicine is on the raise. It is believed that 40% of the products in Tanzania markets are counterfeits.
Other notified forms of unethical business conducts such are;- claiming that products are new while they are not- like some of mobile phones on sale in most of the shops in Tanzania.
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