“I am happy that the centre, in its inaugural report, has released these figures, as this will help the Government evaluate the situation and rectify any shortcomings. 

“The ministry has been carrying out enforcement against traders and operators that violate consumer protection laws, and we will continue to take ongoing measures to ensure further improvements are made in the laws,” he said after launching a talk titled “The Current State of Malaysian Consumers: Holding Corporations Accountable” on Monday. 

At the function, he also launched the centre’s inaugural report 2006. 

Veerasingam added that unsatisfied consumers had, to date, registered 7,353 cases with the consumer tribunal court. The complaints mostly related to either shoddy services or items that did not meet standards. 

He said the tribunal had heard about 82% or 6,030 cases out of the total figure. 

The highest number of complaints was over housing developers, 1,578 complaints were lodged with the centre last year.  

The second on the list was direct sales, 1,499 complaints were received.