Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry aims to introduce a lemon law or amend existing acts related to defective vehicles in March next year for a more comprehensive consumer protection framework in line with the demands.
Its minister Armizan Mohd Ali said a group of law experts has been appointed to prepare a report on best practices implemented in several countries and hold engagement sessions with relevant parties.
“They will start work from June until the end of September and submit a comprehensive report to the ministry,” he told reporters after opening the Malaysian Consumer Symposium 2024 today.
A lemon law provides a remedy for buyers of motor vehicles and other consumer goods to obtain compensation for products that repeatedly fail to meet quality and performance standards.
Armizan said there are four laws with such features including the Consumer Protection Act (Act 599), the Contract Act 1950, the Sale of Goods Act 1950 and the Hire-Purchase Act 1967.
In the meantime, the ministry will implement two interim consumer protection strategies, he said.
They include the establishment of a negotiation task force for motor vehicle complaints involving a tripartite negotiation among the ministry, buyers and distributors or manufacturers and strengthening the process of the Tribunal for Consumer Claims Malaysia (TTPM) through the cooperation with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
This special negotiation involves new private vehicles (cars or motorcycles) not more than six months old from the date of registration that are still under the valid warranty period and have yet to be modified, among other things.
He said consumers facing issues with their new motor vehicles whose initial claims with the manufacturers have been unsuccessful can submit their complaints through the ministry’s official channels.
Ownership issues for claims
Armizan said his ministry is also getting BNM’s cooperation to facilitate the issuance of consent letters by banking or financial institutions to allow consumers to make compensation claims at TTPM or the court.
He said one of the constraints consumers face when seeking compensation for faulty new vehicles is the difficulty in obtaining consent letters due to ownership issues under the Hire-Purchase Act 1967 that allows the vehicles to be transferred to the consumer only upon completion of payment.
“It is expected that through this second strategy, consumers can successfully resolve their claims at TTPM.
“The government sincerely hopes industry players, especially the automotive industry, are willing to respond to the government’s aspirations (in helping consumers) and cooperate in protecting consumer rights and fostering a fair and transparent market,” he added.
- Bernama
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