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Another big challenge for the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) after.it has failed to swiftly tackle the SMS Scams that fleeced the consumers millions of ringgit.

A pull-out of support from the civil society has plunged the administration of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998 into total disarray.

A chunk of the demand side comprising the civil society last week decided to pull out their representation in the Communications and Multimedia Consumer Forum of Malaysia (short form: Consumer Forum).

Citing "Enough Is Enough", the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (FOMCA) and 11 affiliated bodies have withdrawn their participation in the forum, the Weekend Mail (July 28-29) reported.

Among the 11 other consumer groups that had pulled out are ERA Consumer, APSCARE, and state level consumer associations from Klang, Perak, Pahang and Perlis.

According to the Mail, FOMCA secretary-general Muhd Shaani Abdullah, who was the outgoing chairman of the Consumer Forum, said the pull-out was made as consumer groups felt the forum had failed to effectively target issues it should have been addressing.

He said the forum is to promote the national policy objectives as stated in CMA 1998, besides on-going commitment to draft, develop and prepare industry codes that protect consumers' rights.

The forum was also established as an avenue and channel for complaints, disputes and grievances coming from the consumers.

"The forum has not achieved its purpose of improving the quality of services (QoS) or credibility of in the industry," Muhd Shaani said. "More importantly, it has failed to address issues affecting consumers where the telcos are concerned."

Muhd Shaani claimed that the telcos were more into protecting their interests instead of addressing issues affecting consumers.

He said the forum's aim is also to recommend procedures for compensation for the customer in case of a breach of an industry code within its purview.

"Given this scenario where the forum wasn't performing as it should, there was no purpose in us being there," Muhd Shaani said.

According to the Mail, Energy, Water and Communications Minister Dr Lim Keng Yaik declined to comment on the pull-out when contacted on Friday.

Backgrounder

Constitutionally, the Consumer Forum, which was established in February 2001 and registered with the Registrar of Society, is a critical requirement of CMA 1998.

Its members comprise telecommunications service providers, private-run terresterial and satellite television systems. radio stations, and Internet service providers licensed by the MCMC.

The forum mandated that the interest of consumers in the communications and multimedia industry must be protected, and as such, the office bearers must be equally represented by the demand (the consumers and end-users) and the supply side (industry players and service providers.

It is believed that Consumer Forum has been in operational paralysis for a while due to discord between the demand and supply sides.

To mitigate the structural problem of the forum, there had been suggestions to amend the constitution to a 9-2 formula, where the 11-member executive committee shall have nine representatives from the demand, and two from the supply side.

However, the suggestion could not take off as any amendments to constitution must have at least two-thirds majority EACH from the demand and supply sides -- a mandatory clause embedded by the MCMC legal team which prepared the forum constitution.