November 2009

The NCCC

The National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC) is a dedicated complaints handling service for consumers. It is an initiative by FOMCA and ERA Consumer Malaysia. Since September 2008, NCCC has been registered as an independent foundation under the Companies Commission of Malaysia, which has the same objectives.

Getting started

Before the NCCC

Funding

Publicising the NCCC to consumers

Public discussion

Companies learn their responsibilities

Consumers learn their rights

The most common complaints

• housing
• scams, and
• poor customer service.

A real case

Dealing with businesses

Even government agencies need pushing

Causing trouble pays off

Advice

Read more...

• Visit the NCCC website (English and Bahasa Malay).
  
• Watch consumer education videos on the NCCC site.

Labels: FOMCA, NCCC, Sha'ani

Featured member highlight

Medicines

Consume less

Junk Food Generation

Energy Efficiency

Read the feature

Labels: FOMCA, Marimuthu, NCCC

Saturday October 31, 2009

PETALING JAYA: Certified workshops should be allowed to inspect vehicles aged 15 years and above, said Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations secretary-general Muhammad Shaani Abdullah.

He said Puspakom would not be able to cope with the number of vehicles if it had to conduct inspections on these cars.

“Currently, commercial vehicles make up only 10% of the vehicle population but owners are already spending long hours waiting for the inspections to be done.

“If Puspakom is going to inspect cars aged 15 years or older, there will be an additional 20% to 30% of the total vehicle population that needs to be checked.

“Puspakom will be unable to cope with this and will definitely have to outsource it to certified workshops,” he said.

On the prohibition of used automotive parts and components from June 2011, Muhammad Shaani said the Government must ensure that all spare parts sold in the country complied with international standard.

“It will not be feasible to impose such a ban if we do not have local mandatory standards to ensure that consumers get to buy materials with quality.

“Otherwise, they might have to waste more money repairing their vehicles,” he said.

2009/10/30

DATUK PAUL SELVARAJ, Consumer Research and Resource Centre Kuala Lumpur

JUST last month, the minister dealing with consumer issues issued a strong statement that the Competition Policy or Fair Trade Policy would be tabled in Parliamentthat month.

He emphasised that the act would protect consumers against businesses that manipulated the prices of goods. To date, there has been no further news on the act.

Then, contradicting his earlier statement in support of competition and fair trade, the minister said last week that liberalising the sugar trade would cause problems for local sugar-based industries.

Well, the whole idea of liberalising the market is to allow more competitors to break the power of the holders of approved permits, who can and do manipulate prices.

The issue is not that more competitors would reduce supply; rather it is that the price of sugar is controlled.

In liberalising the market, the government should provide a safety net for the marginalised through food coupons or other forms of support; the rest of the consumers will have to learn to adapt to the market.

In the short term, prices may go up because of crop failure in some key sugar producing countries.

Currently, the government spends RM720 million on sugar subsidies.

After ensuring the poor get the support, the government will need to educate consumers to adapt to the market; that might simply mean consuming less sugar.

For the agricultural and food sector as a whole, the supply chain needs to be liberalised to prevent importers, wholesalers and other traders from colluding and manipulating prices to the detriment of other businessmen -- especially small businessmen who may otherwise be left out either because they simply lack the connections or because they are not part of the collusion -- as well as consumers. In the long term, a competitive market benefits society as a whole.

Then the minister said if petrol stations are allowed to charge prices below the ceiling price set by the government, there would be inflation. When there is competition and competition forces prices down; there is less, not more inflation.

The beneficiaries are the consumers. The ceiling price ensures, again through government subsidies, that prices do not go above the price fixed by the government.

In the long term, for a viable and sustainable economy, three significant factors are important.

Firstly, the market has to be liberalised at every level (imports, wholesale trade and retail trade) so that competition and not price-fixing is the primary vehicle for price determination.

Secondly, there should be a social safety net for the poor and marginalised so that they are not left out and society is able to sustain them through some form of food and basic support system.


Thirdly, consumers must learn to change their mindset and their lifestyle to reflect market realities.

The time when consumers expect the government to keep prices low through increasing subsidy schemes is over. They have to take personal responsibility over their lifestyle and consumer behaviour.

Finally, in enhancing consumer protection and consumer welfare in Malaysia, a minister more committed to consumer issues also helps.

Labels: CRRC, FOMCA, Paul Selvaraj

Piarapakaran Subramaniam
Oct 29, 09
4:37pm
I refer to the Malaysiakini report PM slashes spending in Budget 2010.

The world community condemns the 'divide and rule' policy used by the colonial powers. However, our water and energy sectors are still being managed in such manner. Both sectors are managed by many parties with minimal integration except for meetings and seminars.

The Water and Energy Consumer Association of Malaysia (Wecam) sees both water and energy as basic needs of the people to survive and they eventually will becomes a national security issue.

On these consumer rights, we urge the federal and state governments to put their differences aside and protect the rakyat. We also urge that both the sectors are to be integrated and managed throughout their life cycles.

The water sector needs to ensure that water catchment areas are protected. State governments should gazette these areas as permanent reserves. There are also issues highlighted by the latest Auditor-General's report on the quality and pricing of water.

In addition to that, wastewater management is still below performance and underutilised. The country's water demand management is also of immediate concern as there are organisations that are pushing for alternative resources such as groundwater with many risky elements overlooked.

The energy sector is also not spared from lack of implementation while Malaysia is facing depleting energy resources. Furthermore, we are still on the learning curve for alternative energy. Energy efficiency - which is a core part of energy management - has not yet been achieved.

The government also made a 'quick policy' on nuclear energy as an option. Besides this, in a recent study conducted by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), they omitted the transportation sector's energy usage. This again proves fragments implementation.

Overall, we did request a balancing fund to mitigate immediate energy resources price fluctuations. This is to ensure there is no immediate fluctuation of energy prices in all sectors to prevent burdening the consumers.

The new Green Technology sector will definitely be challenged to look at both these sectors as the improvement planned for them are placed in the recent National Green Technology Policy release.

Before the country steps forward to achieve Vision 2020, fundamental issues must be solved and we need to build both the energy and water sectors on solid foundation.

In many communications, meeting, seminars, reports and memorandums, we together with Fomca have raised many issues and solutions. We will continue to give constructive views with a technical background to push for changes and enhancement.

Working together does not make any of us less, it only builds us up further. We hope for a strong restructuring of both the water and energy sector to improve implementation efficiency. Merging is definitely an option.

The writer is secretary-general, Water and Energy Consumer Association of Malaysia.

Labels: FOMCA, Piara, WICAM

Tuesday October 27, 2009
By IZWAN IDRIS and SHARIDAN M. ALI

PETALING JAYA: The Government needs to be more “open” on issues related to its procurement policy, urged two non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

“As it is now, there is more suspicion than trust in the system,” Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (Fomca) secretary-general Muhammad Shaani Abdullah said in a response to Starprobe’s articles published yesterday.

This, he said, was due to the lack of transparency on how most of the public contracts were awarded, as well as lack of publicly available information about the project status.

“The Government needs to do more in sharing information with the public,” Shaani said, adding that this could be achieved through the media and publishing such information on government websites.

The latest Auditor-General’s report and Starprobe findings published yesterday revealed that the Government could be losing billions of ringgit every year through excessive payments made for projects and procurements from private contractors.

Transparency International Malaysia (TI Malaysia) secretary-general Dr Loi Kheng Min said putting a proper procurement system would help curb corrupt practices, which had been long-associated with government contracts.

He said that the effectiveness of existing systems, like e-Perolehan and e-Tender should be enhanced, while perennial issues like non-compliance to procedures should be dealt with.

TI Malaysia, a globally-linked anti-graft independent body, has also come up with its own procurement guide called Integrity Pact.

Recent adopters of this Integrity Pact include Pos Malaysia Bhd.

Loi said the Integrity Pact programme was designed to prevent corruption, bribes and any other unethical practices.

Meanwhile, a government officer met by the Starprobe team at National Asset and Facility Management Convention 2009 yesterday said it was definitely a waste to lose billions of ringgit every year through excessive payments for contracts and procurements.

“I think the current Government will definitely do something to curb this problem.

“And the real cost of contract for any projects should be audited to avoid any ‘hidden’ charges with vested interests.

“Nobody in the right mind would let this happen and if unnecessary cost or expenditure is revealed, such as the acquisition of the over RM40,000 laptop, somebody should be held responsible,” said the officer, who declined to be named.

A businessman at the convention yesterday also lauded the effort to probe such issues as it involved taxpayers’ money.

“Although some contracts are through open tender, a background check on the company and unnecessary costs of the project is very important to avoid this kind of wastage.

“Maybe a third independent party should be roped in to do the audit,” he said.

Labels: FOMCA, Sha'ani, Shaani

SOME wounds are just to deep to be healed by mere promises, no matter how good they sound.

That was the impression Malay Mail received after speaking to various taxi organisations and consumer groups on the pledge made by the latest minister to oversee of the troubled Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB). CVLB has come under fire from various quarters following a series of exposes carried out by Malay Mail in recent weeks into the weaknesses and abuses in the coupon taxi system.

The probes uncovered a litany of abuses, from dearer- than-standard fares to different fares to the same destination – charged by the same company.

Many criticised the CVLB for being ineffective, with some even calling for the coupon system to be disbanded and the board to be overhauled.

Yesterday, we reported that Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of Law and Parliament Affairs, Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz, had been tasked with overseeing the board after CVLB was recently placed under the purview of the PM's Department.

Upon meeting with CVLB on Monday, Nazri stated he was reviewing the whole taxi system, and had given CVLB one month to prepare solutions to prevent further express bus accidents and curb errant taxi drivers.

His statement was met with a mixed response by the parties involved, who preferred to adopt a "wait and see" attitude.

Here are their views. Malaysian Limousine, Taxi and Hired Car Drivers and Operators Association (Petekma) president Yusoff Lahir:

"The minister first has to prove that he is capable. It is like an engineer; if he (Nazri) builds a straight road, then taxi operators and all will also move straight.

" Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associat ions (Fomca) president Datuk N. Marimuthu:

"It is still too early to comment on the minister's assurance.

Act first and then we will see as there have been too many problems with CVLB and the country's taxi system.

The question isn't about who takes over CVLB or the promises that he makes, it is more important that he listens to the people and takes positive action before any praise can be given." Subang and Shah Alam Consumers' Association pre s ident Dr Jacob George:

"I am glad that the troubled CVLB will be under Nazri's purview as he has a reputation as a no-nonsense man.

This, however, isn't enough as I still feel CVLB should be revamped or it will be the case of 'same old wine in a new bottle'.

" National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC) chief executive officer Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah.

"The minister should get public feedback first before implementing any changes. We have seen too many ministers come and go and they all do what they think is best.They all made plans which have not helped the public transportation industry much.That is why before any changes are implemented he needs to go to the ground and consult consumers and drivers as they will know best.I hope he will implement what consumers want without any interference from any government agency."

K.K. Lee, manager of Top Station Sdn Bhd, the coupon taxi operator at Berjaya Times Square:

"We support the minister's call to review the whole taxi system including the coupon system, as it could ensure consistency.However, in defence of the coupon system, operators only garner 10 per cent of the rates charged and the rest goes to the cabbies themselves.The rates are sometimes higher than the meters because we have to take into consideration the rental charges and staff wages.Contrary to general perception, we coupon operators only earn a small profit."

消費人投訴中心指部份銀行•罔顧法律及持卡人權益

星洲日報•2009.04.03

By : TAM YONG YUEE, Muar

However, we must also accept that the core business of banks, or any other business entities for that matter, is to make a profit.

Regarding "fraudulent marketing methods", consumers or credit-card users have a choice -- to buy or not to buy; to acknowledge or ignore the sales gimmicks.

Someone once said that in our so-called supermarket civilisation, "the joy of living is often confused with consumerism". And someone else said: "Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get." And it pays to know the difference.

Does one need to have so many credit cards? Does one really need to have all the latest gadgets, or that spa and gym membership or that medical plan? The question is, how can any sensible person get carried away and fall for these gimmicks.

Being aware of what we really need and what we want would surely help guard against falling victim to those "fraudulent marketing methods" and sales gimmicks.

ARKIB : 06/04/2009