THE National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC) , questions the transparency of the complaints handling procedure undertaken by MCMC. Its director Darshan Singh said most of the time, the telco will seek to offer a refund to the complainant. "Whether refund actually happens is quite questionable. But a more pressingissue here is that there is no deterrent action against repeated offenders,"he said.
To address the issue effectively, NCCC is calling for the issuance ofitemised billing for pre-paid users. "There should be no more subscription-based service for rich contentslike wallpaper, song download, games or ringtones. Only allow pay perdownload for these type of services. They may allow subscription for text-based services. This will eliminate a lot of problems," Darshan said. The regulator should revoke the application service provider licence ofcontent providers who commit offence repeatedly - perhaps when caught forthe third time.
"MCMC should enhance complaints handling by dealingdirectly with complainants instead of asking telcos to communicate withthem. International gateway providers should also be stopped. Currently,there are many fake messages sent to mobile users. For instance, users didnot request for a particular service but are sent a message and charged.When they complain, the telco log will show that they had subscribed tothe service," said Darshan. "Don't issue multiple short codes to companies. Just issue one shortcode. Thus if they are caught spamming, all their services would bebanned. Currently, many short codes are issued to one company. Onceaction is taken against a particular shortcode, they will migrate toanother shortcode. Therefore, suspension is pointless," he added.
On making services available, Darshan said the "opt out" method shouldcease. "It should be `opt in' instead. If I want something, I should beable to take it. I don't want contents that I have to say no to. Even byjust saying no, telcos will charge 15 sen. Multiply that with the numberof mobile phone subscribers and you will see the picture." Darshan also urged all subscribers to check their monthly bills and makea police report under commercial crime if they have been victimised. Theycan lodge complaints with NCCC at 03-78779000 or log on to our Web site'se-aduan form at www.nccc.org.my.
Guys, please lodge complaints if you find unsolicitesd SMS charges in your bills. Make sure that you always check your bills.
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
Friday, 15 June 2007
Errant Lawyers
The issue of errant lawyers has been widely debated for the past few weeks since the publishing of the names of errant lawyers in the newspapers. We at the The National Consumer Complaints Center (NCCC) ourselves had continued to receive complaints from the public on negligent lawyers. Common area of complaint includes delay in completing sale and purchase transactions. Many consumers end up paying interest to developers for delay which is at no fault of theirs. In most of the cases the lawyers and banks will not take the responsibility over such cases and the blame game would start. The common time limit allowed to complete a normal house purchase transaction is 2+1 and if this timing is inadequate, the Bar ouncil must seek avenues to have it extended. Until now we don't see and effords from the Bar Council. The Bar Council should look into this matter immediately as consumers are not allowed to choose their own lawyers.
The other common area of greviance is the charging of excessibve contingency fee. It is well known fact that there are lawyer's who charge as high as 40% in contingency fee and this is excluding the 10% which is paid by the insurance company as cost. The Legal Profession Etique Rules clearly forbids the charging of contingency fees but this has been going on right under the nose of the Bar Council and poor consumers are being abused. The NCCC agree's that the charging of contingency help's poor consumers in obtaining legal representation and therefore the Bar Council should legalise and regulate the charging of contingency fee so that consumers are not shortchanged. If they can control discounts on fee's, then why can't the Bar Council regulate this area as well.
We see that the Bar Council is more interested in issues which does not need urgent attention and by doing so it neglegts bread and butter issues. He NCCC hopes that the Bar Council is more pro-active is adressing issues which affects the consumers at large.
The other common area of greviance is the charging of excessibve contingency fee. It is well known fact that there are lawyer's who charge as high as 40% in contingency fee and this is excluding the 10% which is paid by the insurance company as cost. The Legal Profession Etique Rules clearly forbids the charging of contingency fees but this has been going on right under the nose of the Bar Council and poor consumers are being abused. The NCCC agree's that the charging of contingency help's poor consumers in obtaining legal representation and therefore the Bar Council should legalise and regulate the charging of contingency fee so that consumers are not shortchanged. If they can control discounts on fee's, then why can't the Bar Council regulate this area as well.
We see that the Bar Council is more interested in issues which does not need urgent attention and by doing so it neglegts bread and butter issues. He NCCC hopes that the Bar Council is more pro-active is adressing issues which affects the consumers at large.
Thursday, 14 June 2007
COMPENSATE TRADERS HIT BY FLOOD
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Consumers associations have called on the government to compensate traders who were affected in Sunday’s flash flood in Kuala Lumpur.  National Consumer Complaints Center (NCCC) director DarshanSingh said the traders who suffered were all tax-paying citizens and therefore should be compensated for the damages incurred. He argued that the flood was not a natural disaster and could have been averted."This is not the first time, such floods have occurred in the area before." he said. "The government has failed in its duty to provide a safe environment to live and carry out business." Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan Consumer's Association (SWPCA) president Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman said he hoped that government agencies like development banks would offer aid to the traders.  "DBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Hall) has to investigate the sources of Sunday's floods and fix the problems so that it does not happen again." he said. "We are worried that if the city centre keeps flooding, the traders will give up their businesses and move elsewhere." Yusof also said he had high hopes for the flood management portion of the Smart tunnel, but hoped that the government would prioritise flood investigations over toll collection. Ahead of schedule Yesterday, Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID) director-general Keizrul Abdullah announced yesterday that the Smart floodwater channel would be ready by June 23, a week ahead of schedule.  According to Bernama, Keizrul said that the department was speeding up all flood mitigation measures.Other efforts will include the installation of pump systems in low-lying areas and construction of flood bypasses. "We will also upgrade the flood forecast and alert system. We've started sending flood warnings to Shah Alam residents by SMS (short messaging service)," he was quoted as saying. Malaysiakini |
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