PETALING JAYA: Umrah packages, home improvement, car workshop services, travel agencies and short-term rentals are the top five cases in the services category received by the Tribunal for Consumer Claims Malaysia (TTPM) this year.

Of the 3,484 filings from January to May 2023, 355 were for umrah packages, 343 for home improvement, 175 for car workshops, 145 for travel agencies and 137 for short-term rentals.

In the goods category, the top five filings during the same period were for electrical goods (192), cars (185), telephones (110), furniture (100) and clothes (67).Meanwhile, 7,109 filings were done in 2022, 4,845 in 2021, 5,761 in 2020 and 5,198 in 2019.

For 2022 and 2021, home improvement topped the list of cases filed in the services category – 757 filings last year and 420 the year before.

Travel agencies topped the list of cases filed in the services category in 2020 and 2019, at 584 and 383 respectively. In the goods category, claims for electrical goods topped the list for four years, with a total of 1,316 cases from 2020 to 2023.

TTPM chairman Hamidun Abdul Fatah advised consumers to make smart choices and look for the right information before purchasing goods or services.

“If you find that your rights as a consumer have been denied, don’t be quiet and just accept it as fate. The tribunal is here and you can come to the tribunal if the case is within our power scope,” he said.

To ensure that consumers can access the tribunal’s services more easily, Hamidun said it is embracing technology by starting the process of digitalisation this year.

“The tribunal system is now going through digitalisation and will be fully digitalised by 2025, like the e-Court.

In other words, all filing processes can be done digitally, as well as payments and hearings. Most importantly, the recording will also be digitally recorded like in civil courts.

“The reason we are willing to spend on digitalisation is so we can provide the best level of service to every type of consumer.

However, in our bid to enable the public to benefit from the digitalisation of government services, we are also mindful of those facing challenges such as Internet coverage. We can still do physical hearing for such cases,” he said.

Hamidun said virtual hearings were introduced during the pandemic in 2021 and continue on a case-by-case basis for those with health issues. Those with genuine challenges like travel costs and physical distance will also be considered for virtual hearings.

The tribunal will continue its advocacy programmes so the public can remember it as an alternative dispute resolution platform.

“We want to remind the public, from B40 to T20, that everybody stands equal before the law and everyone has rights as government provisions do not discriminate,” he said.