Over 9,000 complaints involving online transactions reported

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 9,000 complaints involving online transactions have been lodged by consumers as of September this year, the Dewan Rakyat heard.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said the complaints were investigated to determine if any offences under the ministry’s jurisdiction had been committed.

“Stern action will be taken against online merchants who are found to have violated the laws.

"From January to September, the ministry received a total of 9,323 complaints where 8,878 had been resolved while 445 are still being investigated for various offence related to the sub-category of electronic transactions," he said in reply to a question from Datuk Robert Lawson Chuat (GPS-Betong) during Question Time.

Lawson had asked the ministry to reveal the statistics on complaints related to online transactions and action taken to address them.

Nanta said 5,700 complaints were from those who did not receive the items or services offered, 1,631 cases involved items or services that did not match with what was offered, 142 fake online products, 30 online copyright issues, 16 online pyramid schemes, and 1,489 other cases.

Among measures taken to address the complaints were to conduct investigations and checks on the premises or the online marketplace operators.

He said the ministry also collaborates with other ministries or agencies such as the Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to block the sites or remove the contents of business sites found operating unethically under the MCMC Act 1988.

According to data from the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), Nanta said there were 297,894 active online businesses registered under the Registration of Business Act 1956 as of Aug 31 this year.

A total of 6,415 firms and 1,968 limited liability partnerships, registered under the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2012, are actively conducting business online.

Some 109,534 new online businesses were registered between January and August this year, making up 42.8% of the total number of online businesses registered. In 2020, a total of 132,012 new businesses were registered.