1 October 2007�

KUALA LUMPUR: Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry director-general of enforcement Mohd Roslan Mahayudin rebutted NCCC director Darshan Singh's assertion that his division was not doing anything about the problem.

�People can make a lot of noise in the marketplace but if they don't bring it to our attention, how do we take action? Co-operation from the consumer is very important.�

Roslan said thousands of cases came under his division and compounding the offenders was sometimes the fastest way to resolve the cases.

�We compound them and we take them to court if they fail to pay within 14 days.

�If we immediately file the case in court, it sometimes takes time for the matter to be resolved.

�The people who commit the offence also don't feel like they're being punished as they only get their penalty a few years later by which time they would have already made much more money.

�After all that time, the court may just decide to compound the offenders, anyway,� he said.

He said the licences of 20 direct sales companies identified to be conducting scratch-and-win scams had been revoked.

It was illegal for sales personnel to approach anyone's home from 7pm till 9am, or on public holidays, said Roslan.

�After that they have the right to approach the homes of consumers but the consumer still has the right to chase them away.�