Fines for airlines don’t benefit consumers, says 4PAM

PETALING JAYA: The Public Transport Consumer Group (4PAM) has questioned whether the policy of Penalty and Compliance (Matrix) which serves to impose financial penalties up to RM200,000 on an airline would benefit consumers and protect their rights.

4PAM president Ajit Johl admits that while the fine could ensure that the airline is careful in future, the question is how would this ultimately benefit users who have not been given the relevant service.

“As an example, for those who miss their flight due to a delay or cancellation, where is the compensation money for the consumers?

“If someone misses a flight that is caused by the airlines, those who bear the losses are the passengers and they do not get the compensation money. So, what benefits to these consumers are we talking about?

“There has to be some clarification by the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection (Mavcom) on how this would protect the consumer’s right?

The Matrix is a framework which serves to quantify financial penalties up to RM200,000 which could be imposed on an airline for instances of non-compliance under the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code 2016.

The Quality of Service Framework aims to set expected levels of service standards and key performance indicators for airports in Malaysia, including queue times, quality of infrastructure and more, with appropriate financial penalties for non-complying airports.

Mavcom director of consumer affairs Pushpalatha Subramaniam was previously reported to have said that the implementation of the performance indicators (Matrix) is not only to protect the consumers’ interest but also to ensure the effectiveness of an airline.

Ajit added that Mavcom needs to protect the consumers first as that is the purpose of their establishment.

“They are imposing a fine on the airlines but the money is not going back to the consumers. We are disappointed that Mavcom has not issued a guideline for consumer protection.

“What about compensation when a flight is delayed or cancelled? The compensation should not only include the ticket price but also the cost of coming to the airport,” he said. -FMT