MyCC warns MyEG for not paying daily penalty
Firm not complying with Competition Appeal Tribunal’s decision
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) has issued a stern warning to e-government services provider MyEG Services Bhd for non-compliance with the decision of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) to pay a daily penalty of RM7,500, now totalling RM9.46mil.
In a statement yesterday, MyCC said MyEG had continuously been in non-compliance with the CAT’s decision dated Dec 28, 2018 which affirmed MyCC’s June 24, 2016 decision.
“Upon the dismissal of MyEG’s judicial review application by the High Court on Jan 22, MyCC has instructed its solicitors to demand compliance with the remedial orders as set out in paragraphs 58 (iii) and 58 (iv) of the CAT decision and for the payment of the daily penalty.
“The daily penalty of RM7,500.00 will continue to accumulate until compliance by MyEG with the directives imposed by the CAT in paragraph 58 of the CAT decision. The total financial penalty, to date, has accumulated to RM9.46mil,” it said.
MyCC is the primary competition authority responsible for safeguarding the competition process in Malaysia. It also said it was prepared to take all actions deemed necessary to ensure MyEG’s compliance with the directives.
Meanwhile, UOB Kay Hian in a recent report said it was maintaining its “buy” call on MyEG with a target price of RM1.62. It said it view any weakness as a trading opportunity as the finalisation of foreign worker management process would appear to be a potential near-term catalyst for MyEG.
“We stay confident that MyEG would remain relevant in the foreign worker-related domain, given its good track record and indispensable back-end system,” the research house noted.
Another analyst with a bank backed brokerage said it is a matter of time that MyEG’s monopoly in the e-government space would be affected. “With new players like MyPay and Orion IXL Bhd coming into the picture, one can expect more players to join the bandwagon.
The present administration is keen to see more players competing and offering competitive prices rather than a monopolistic play,” he added.
MyEG shares yesterday closed up 1 sen or 1.02% to 99 sen, representing a market capitalisation of RM3.449bil.
On Jan 25, MyEG was reported to have stated it would appeal against the daily penalty imposed by MyCC for abusing its market position in the provision and management of online foreign workers’ permit renewal.
MyEG stated it would file an appeal to the Court of Appeal after the KL High Court upheld MyCC’s decision under Section 10(2) (d)(iii) of the Competition Act 2010 for abusing its dominant position.
Bernama had earlier reported that in dismissing the judicial review application by MyEG, High Court Judge Datuk Azizah Nawawi agreed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s findings that reaffirmed MyCC’s decision that MyEG had abused its dominant position by imposing different conditions in equivalent transactions in the purchase of mandatory insurance for the renewal of the Pas Lawatan (Kerja Sementara) for foreign workers.
Consequently, MyEG was ordered to pay a penalty of RM9.337mil in total for such infringement, which includes a penalty of RM307,200 and daily penalties from Oct 7, 2015 to Jan 22, 2019 amounting to RM9.03mil.