Tribunal must ensure presence of all parties before making decision
02/08/2005  The Sun

KUALA LUMPUR: The Consumer Claims Tribunal has been asked to refrain from making any decision on claims if any of the parties involved, especially the company against whom the claim is being made, is not present when the award is being made.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal said this was to avoid problems especially in enforcing the award to the extent that the image of the tribunal itself could be affected.

"I will speak to the tribunal's chairman to ensure that those involved in any case concerning claims are present (when the decision is being made).

"We can't make any decision if any of the party involved is not present," he told reporters after opening the National Consumers Conference, here on Tuesday.

He said this when commenting on the statement made by the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) president, N. Marimuthu on Monday that about 30% of the awards made by the Consumer Claims Tribunal could not be enforced.

As a result, Marimuthu said, the effectiveness of the tribunal which had resolved 14,000 claims cases since its inception in 1999, were still being disputed by certain parties.

Mohd Shafie said the ministry was aware of the problem and was endeavouring to intensify enforcement by strengthening the tribunal.

At the same time, he called on consumers to purchase their goods from authorised outlets to facilitate transactions concerning claims whenever there was a dispute.

"Consumers should also be responsible and should not buy things at unauthorised shops just because things are cheaper there. Some of the problems arose because when the consumers complained that the things bought were defective, the sellers of the goods could not be traced," he said.