Consumers need to be protected from unfair trade practices such as the sale of defective products, false advertisement, false description of goods, misleading price and etc. Those consumer protection laws should evolve with the innovation of ICT.
Consumer Protection Act 1999 was amended in 2007 to cover electronic commerce transactions. This act protects consumers from misleading and deceptive conduct, unfair trade practices and false representation.
Section 187 to 204 of Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 contains provisions on consumer protection. The provisions make it obligatory for network facilities or service providers to deal reasonably with consumers and adequately address consumer complaints (Jayabalan, 2012).
Electronic Commerce Act 2006 merely provides legal recognition of electronic messages in commercial transactions, the use of the electronic messages to fulfil legal requirements and to enable and facilitate commercial transactions through the use of electronic means (Amin & Nor, 2013). The enactment of this act is to follow suit in implementing the UNCITRAL model law. However, this act does not cover consumer protection.
“In my opinion, Electronic Commerce Act should contain the provision on the safety of electronic transactions to protect consumers. Although cyber laws and consumer protection law have been enacted in Malaysia in line with the development of the cyberspace but exploitation of consumer’s vulnerability to unfair trade practices continues. Other than laws that protect consumers, there should have more legislation to govern online sellers. Authorities need to ensure the credibility of the online sellers. All the online sellers must follow the Consumer protection (electronic trade transactions) regulations 2012.
1. Amin, N. & Nor, R. (2013). Online shopping in Malaysia: Legal Protection for E-consumers. European Journal Of Business And Management, Vol.5(No.24).
2. Jayabalan, S. (2012). E-Commerce and Consumer Protection: The Importance of Legislative Measures. 16 JUUM 93 – 101.
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