Fomca urges govt to help reduce household bills

KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) has called on the government to help households by reducing their utility bills, thus freeing some cash for food and other essential expenses.

Its president Datuk Dr N. Marimuthu said, now that the Conditional Control Movement Order (CMCO) and Recovery MCO (RMCO) have been extended and people have been forced to ‘work from home' (WFH) their utility and communication bills are expected to increase substantially.

“Currently we do not enjoy much incentives or reduced tariffs except for the discount on energy usage during the pandemic lock down. Households have also been complaining that the price of food and essential items have been increasing,” he said in a statement, yesterday.

Marimuthu said the government must also look into insurance companies as medical insurance premiums have been increasing and this would impact the affordability of premiums for policyholders.

He said notices are being sent to policyholders when they are still struggling to make ends meet and this is very unjust and unfair.

Meanwhile, he said the government should also reduce the interest rate for the government loans, as well as revise the interest rates for mortgages and hire purchases.