‘CURRENT LAWS OUTDATED’
Parliament must amend and enforce stricter laws, says consumer advocate
LAWMAKERS should amend laws to better regulate the e-commerce sector, said the National Consumer Complaints Centre yesterday.
Its legal and policy senior manager, Shabana Naseer, said existing provisions in the Contract Act 1950 were “outdated” and could not deal with the growing number of consumers falling victim to pseudo-online merchants.
“The law needs to be amended so that it can address the special characteristics of e-commerce. The current law only focuses on the formation of the contract,” she told the New Straits Times yesterday.
Shabana said “major” amendments to the act were needed to deal with current business practices and trends.
“The number of online consumers is growing and it is also contributing to the country’s gross domestic product growth.
“Therefore, proper laws and regulations are needed to cover all aspects of e-commerce fraud,” she said, adding that laws needed to be amended from time to time to keep up with technological advancements.
Shabana urged the authorities to ensure online business operators adhered to the Consumer Protection (Electronic Trade Transactions) Regulation 2012.
She said besides enacting stricter laws, the government should hold awareness programmes to educate the consumers on e-commerce fraud.
“There is a need to educate consumers on how to shop safely. They need to know how to check a company’s background, among others,” she said.
Malaysian Consumers Movement (MCM) president Darshan Singh Dhillion, meanwhile, urged shoppers to lodge a police report if they felt cheated by dubious online merchants.
“The police’s commercial crime division can act on a report.
“The police have to work with the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry, Bank Negara and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to formulate a holistic solution to the issue.”
He also said the Companies Commission of Malaysia should make it compulsory for online businesses to register with the commission.
“But, this may not weed out fraudulent businesses entirely.
“Consumers must be vigilant and protect themselves while the authorities continue to weed out frauds. This cat-and-mouse game will continue as long as technology continues to improve.”