No longer business as usual
COLLUSION has been a fact of business for the longest time in Malaysia.
Consumers, who hawked around for the best rates they could find, often were led to a dead end as to what they could expect to pay.
But in recent years, the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) has been proposing to crackdown on such practices, as it seeks to bring competition and fair pricing into the Malaysian marketplace.
From flower growers to airline operators, MyCC has sought to disband the workings of industry to collude for their own benefit.
Actions by MyCC is not uncommon. In fact, western countries have antitrust and anti-monopoly measures to protect consumers from being infringed by big businesses.
The latest action by MyCC highlights such thinking in Malaysia.
It recently proposed a financial penalty of RM213.45mil on all 23 general insurers in the country, where the commission investigated the actions by general insurers in Malaysia to see whether there were anti-monopoly practices within the industry.
Allianz Malaysia Bhd said on Friday that its subsidiary, Allianz General Insurance Company (Malaysia) Bhd, was among the insurers – who are members of Persatuan Insurans Am Malaysia (PIAM) – alleged to have infringed one of the prohibitions under Part II of the Competition Act 2010.
It said the financial penalty resulted from MyCC’s investigation into the alleged infringement in the agreement between PIAM and the Federation of Automobile Workshop Owners’ Association of Malaysia on trade discount rates for parts of certain vehicle makes, and hourly labour rates for PIAM-approved repairers scheme workshops.
It said its share of the penalty was RM27.48mil and was subject to appeal.
Big businesses have to realise that past practices are no longer acceptable in Malaysia. In an era of competition to bring down prices, businesses have to be aware that market conditions have to change. This new measure is to ensure that consumers get the best prices and businesses which are competitive are able to thrive.