PENAMPANG: The Consumers Affair and Protection Society of Sabah (CAPS) has urged the government to come down hard on businesses that are found taking advantage of consumers.
Its president, James Bagah, said the government should really enforce the law and impose deterrent punishment on errant business premises so that they learn their lesson and refrain from committing such offences in the future.
“Simply issuing repeated warnings on these people will not be effective. We want to make sure that those who do wrong are punished,” James told reporters when met at the CAPS’ annual general meeting here yesterday.
On the prices of goods and services displayed for the public not tallying with the actual price a customer has to fork out, James opined that this act can be considered as cheating.
Taking fast food outlets as an example, James said that the price displayed does not include the tax imposed and this is usually done in the fine print which not many customers will read.
The company or business, he stressed, must make sure the price displayed is what the customers actually need to pay as tax is a hidden cost that they have a right to know about.
“The fine print is there but how many people actually take time to read the notice? Then the font is so small that it is difficult to read, so this is only a trick or strategy by the management of the establishment to show to the authorities that they have informed their customers of the tax imposed.
“So the government should do something about this as it is deceiving the consumers,” he said, adding that there is an immediate need to educate consumers to be very particular and also know their rights.
That way, they can complain to the management if they know they are being cheated, he said.
James also said that this year the Federation of Malaysian Consumer Association (FOMCA) will be organizing a roadshow on financial management in Sabah titled, ‘Kearah celik kewangan’ and CAPS will coordinating the program.
It will be held in Nabawan, Sipitang, Tenom, Kota Kinabalu and Penampang starting June 23 until early July and there will be two sessions in each district where the program will be held, he said.
“This is a good program, so we encourage the people to come for the talks,” James said.
Meanwhile, Assistant Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Anita Baranting urged CAPS to continue its role as the government’s backbone in creating awareness and educating the public about their rights as consumers.
She said that CAPS had been doing a good job in creating awareness and educating the public about their rights as consumers and should therefore keep it up.
Anita, when officiating a consumer awareness exhibition in conjunction with CAPS’ annual general meeting here yesterday, also asked CAPS members to report to the government if they come across any unscrupulous entrepreneurs who indiscriminately increase the prices of their goods and services so that deterrent action can be taken against them.
“The government, through the Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Ministry, has appointed more than 200 officers who are tasked with monitoring the prices of goods and services in the state but the number is insufficient as Sabah is very big.
“So I would like to call on CAPS members to help the government by reporting any cases of indiscriminate price increase so that we can take action against the perpetrators,” she said, adding that so far more than 300 entrepreneurs have been taken to court for committing the offence.
She also urged the public not to blame the government for the price increase of goods and services because that is done by the entrepreneurs themselves.
The government, however, can take action against these unscrupulous people, she said.
Anita also praised CAPS for its campaign against the use of take-away polystyrene packs as it is harmful to consumers.