E-Lelong system needs to be reviewed

AS a licensed auctioneer who has practised for over five years in Selangor, Perak and Melaka, and on behalf of the 2,000 or so licensed auctioneers throughout Malaysia, I would like to ask our new government to review the e-Bidding system currently being implemented by the courts. This system monopolises the entire sale process of public foreclosures and affects our livelihood as licensed auctioneers.

The High Court of Malaya currently uses the e-Lelong system which is maintained by a third party provider. This raises the issues of accountability, transparency and fairness in the industry.

We do not question the benefits of online bidding as it saves time and promotes ease of access to purchasers. We are more concerned over why the system was not given to the Malaysian Council of Auctioneers, the official body representing local auctioneers nationwide, to manage.

With an estimated revenue per auctioneer of RM40,000, we are looking at a potential revenue of RM80mil a year being collected by the High Court and the company maintaining the system. We did raise the issue of monopoly several times with the past government but our efforts came to nought. .

We therefore ask the new government to review the existing system which is highly unfair to us and also raises a lot of issues concerning its legality and effectiveness. Auctioneers have been in existence since 1929 and have successfully served the foreclosure system in Malaysia for hundreds of thousands of successful auctions. Their experience and services should be valued and used to reach greater heights. THAM KUEN WEI Ipoh