PETALING JAYA: The National Consumer Complaint Centre (NCCC) will submit a memorandum recommending amendments to several consumers-related legislation to relevant government ministries.

NCCC legal and policy executive Shabana Naseer Ahmad said the proposed amendments to the law is to handle the complex nature of e-commerce.

She added it is also to help further strengthen and safeguard the interest of e-consumers in Malaysia.

"The centre has been receiving numerous complaints from consumers, with the number rising annually, especially those related to online shopping," said Shabana during a press conference today.

Citing an example, she said, in 2014 they received 7,641 complaints involving a few million ringgit loss and are expecting the number to be higher for last year.

"Based on complaints, it looks like the risk associated with online shopping is higher as compared to traditional shopping," Shabana said.

The top three complaints received by NCCC pertaining to online shopping are late delivery of purchased goods (51.8%), problems associated with returning wrongly described or faulty products (19.1%), and poor product quality (8.1%).

To overcome these problems, Shabana said, they intend to publish a guideline for consumers on online purchasing which will be distributed to consumers.

The guidelines, she added, will include:
» avoid buying products advertised on site that does not give clear product explanation;
» cash on delivery is the better method as compared to online transaction;
» to contact the company or merchant immediately if the purchased product is faulty; and
» to be cautious with the prices offered by the merchant because if its too low then there is a possibility that the seller does not have the items or the item could be a fake.

thesundaily- 4 February 2016