(1) This Act may be cited as the Consumer Protection Act 1999.
(2) This Act shall came into operation on a date to be appointed by the Minister, by notification in the Gazette, and the Minister may appoint different dates for different provisions of this Act.
(1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act shall apply in respect of all goods and services that are offered or supplied to one or more consumers in trade including any trade transaction conducted through electronic means.
(2) This Act shall not apply-
(a) to securities as defined in the *Securities Industry Act 1983 [Act 280];
(b) to futures contracts as defined in the *Futures Industry Act 1993 [Act 499];
(c) to contracts made before the date on which this Act comes into operation;
(d) in relation to land or interests in land except as may be expressly provided in this Act;
(e) to services provided by professionals who are regulated by any written law; and
(f) to healthcare services provided or to be provided by healthcare professionals or healthcare facilities.
(g) (Deleted by Act A1298).
(3) (Deleted by Act A1381).
(4) The application of this Act shall be supplemental in nature and without prejudice to any other law regulating contractual relations.
*NOTE-This Act has since been repealed by Capital Market and Services Act 2007 [Act 671] which comes into operation on 28 September 2007 except Division 2 of Part VI which comes into operation on 1 April 2010-see subsection 381(2) Act 671, P.U. (B) 342/2007 and P.U. (B) 143/2010.
(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"acquiring", in relation to-
(a) goods, includes obtaining goods by way of purchase, exchange or taken on lease, hire or hire-purchase;
(b) services, includes accepting a service in any manner, and "acquire" and "acquisition" shall be construed accordingly;
"advertisement" includes every form of advertisement, whether or not accompanied by or in association with spoken or written words or other writing or sounds and whether or not contained or issued in a publication, and includes advertisement-
(a) by the display of notices;
(b) by means of catalogues, price lists, circulars, labels, cards or other documents or materials;
(c) by the exhibition of films or of pictures or photographs; or
(d) by means of radio, television, telecommunication or any other similar means;
"business" means any undertaking that is carried on whether for gain or reward or not and in the course of which goods or services are acquired or supplied whether at a price or otherwise;
"consumer" means a person who-
(a) acquires or uses goods or services of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household purpose, use or consumption; and
(b) does not acquire or use the goods or services, or hold himself out as acquiring or using the goods or services, primarily for the purpose of-
(i) resupplying them in trade;
(ii) consuming them in the course of a manufacturing process; or
(iii) in the case of goods, repairing or treating, in trade, other goods or fixtures on land;
"Controller", "Deputy Controller" and "Assistant Controller" mean persons appointed as such under section 7;
"Council" or "National Consumer Advisory Council" means the council established under section 73;
"credit instrument" means any agreement, oral or written, acknowledging an obligation to pay a sum or sums of money on demand, or at any future time or times;
"goods" means goods which are primarily purchased, used or consumed for personal, domestic or household purposes, and includes-
(a) goods attached to, or incorporated in, any real or personal property;
(b) animals, including fish;
(c) vessels and vehicles;
(d) utilities; and
(e) trees, plants and crops whether on, under or attached to land or not,
but does not include choses in action, including negotiable instruments, shares, debentures and money;
"healthcare facility" means any premises in which one or more members of the public receive healthcare services;
"healthcare professional" includes a medical practitioner, dental practitioner, pharmacist, clinical psychologist, nurse, midwife, medical assistant, physiotherapist, occupational therapist and other allied healthcare professional and any other person involved in the giving of medical, health, dental, pharmaceutical or any other healthcare services;
"healthcare services" includes-
(a) medical, dental, nursing, midwifery, allied health, pharmacy, and ambulance services and any other service provided by a healthcare professional;
(b) accommodation for the purpose of any healthcare service;
(c) any service for the screening, diagnosis or treatment of persons suffering from, or believed to be suffering from any disease, injury or disability of mind or body;
(d) any service for preventive or promotive health purpose;
(e) any service by any healthcare para-professional;
(f) any service for curing or alleviating any abnormal condition of the human body by the application of any apparatus, equipment, instrument or device or any other medical technology; or
(g) any health related services including alternative and traditional medical services;
"manufacturer" means a person who carries on a business of assembling, producing or processing goods, and includes-
(a) any person who holds himself out to the public as a manufacturer of the goods;
(b) any person who affixes his brand or mark, or causes or permits his brand or mark to be affixed, to the goods; and
(c) where goods are manufactured outside Malaysia and the foreign manufacturer of the goods does not have an ordinary place of business in Malaysia, a person who imports or distributes those goods;
"premises" means any place, building or vehicle, whether permanent or temporary;
"prescribed" means prescribed by or under this Act or any regulations made under this Act, and where no mode is mentioned, means prescribed from time to time by order published in the Gazette;
"price" includes consideration in any form, whether direct or indirect, and includes any consideration that in effect relates to the acquisition or supply of goods or services although ostensibly relating to any other matter or thing;
"publication" includes advertisement to the public or any member of the public by any means, and "publish" shall be construed accordingly;
"record" includes account books, bank books, vouchers, receipts, correspondence and any other document regardless of whether the record is on paper or is in electronic, photographic or other form but does not include patient medical record;
"regulations" means regulations made under this Act;
"security" includes any charge or encumbrance;
"services" includes any rights, benefits, privileges or facilities that are or are to be provided, granted or conferred under any contract but does not include rights, benefits or privileges in the form of the supply of goods or the performance of work under a contract of service;
"subsidiary" has the same meaning as given in the Companies Act 1965 [Act 125];
"supplier" means a person who, in trade-
(a) supplies goods to a consumer by transferring the ownership or the possession of the goods under a contract of sale, exchange, lease, hire or hire-purchase to which that person is a party; or
(b) supplies services to a consumer, and includes-
(i) where the rights of the supplier have been transferred by assignment or by operation of law, the person for the time being entitled to those rights;
(ii) a financier who has lent money on the security of goods supplied to a consumer, if the whole or any part of the price of the goods is to be paid out of the proceeds of the loan and if the loan was arranged by a person who, in trade, supplied the goods;
(iii) a person who, in trade, assigns or procures the assignment of goods to a financier to enable the financier to supply those goods, or goods of that kind, to the consumer; and
(iv) a person who, in trade, is acting as agent for another person where that other person is not supplying in trade;
"supply", in relation to-
(a) goods, means to supply or resupply by way of sale, exchange, lease, hire or hire-purchase;
(b) services, means to provide, grant or confer;
"this Act" includes any subsidiary legislation made under this Act;
"trade" means any trade, business, industry, profession, occupation, activity of commerce or undertaking relating to the supply or acquisition of goods or services;
"Tribunal" means the Tribunal for Consumer Claims established under section 85.
(2) In this Act, a reference to-
(a) engaging in a conduct shall be read as a reference to doing or refusing to do an act, and includes-
(i) omitting to do an act; or
(ii) making it known that an act will or, as the case may be, will not, be done;
(b) the acquisition of goods includes a reference to the acquisition of property in or rights in relation to goods pursuant to a supply of the goods;
(c) the supply or acquisition of goods or services includes a reference to the agreement to supply or acquire goods or services;
(d) the supply or acquisition of goods includes a reference to the supply or acquisition of goods together with other goods or services or both;
(e) the supply or acquisition of services includes a reference to the supply or acquisition of services together with other goods or services or both;
(f) the resupply of goods acquired from a person includes a reference to-
(i) a supply of goods to another person in an altered form or condition; and
(ii) a supply to another person of other goods in which the acquired goods have been incorporated.
(3) In this Act, where it is necessary to determine the time at which a guarantee commences to apply-
(a) goods shall be treated as supplied at the time when the consumer acquires the right to possess the goods;
(b) services shall be treated as supplied at the time when the services are provided, granted or conferred.
(4) For the purposes of this Act, an undertaking, assertion or representation by any name shall be deemed to be an express guarantee if it has the same or substantially the same effect as an express guarantee.
This Act shall have effect notwithstanding any contract term which applies or purports to apply the law of another country where the term appears to the court to have been imposed wholly or mainly for the purpose of enabling the party imposing it to evade the operation of this Act.
(a) any written law which imposes on the supplier a duty stricter than that imposed under this Act;
(b) any written law by which any term not inconsistent with this Act is to be implied in a contract for the supply of any goods or services;
(c) any written law relating to contracts of employment or contracts of apprenticeship; or
(d) any term in any agreement in writing between a supplier and a consumer to the extent that the term-
(i) imposes a stricter duty on the supplier than that imposed under this Act; or
(ii) provides a remedy more advantageous to the consumer than the remedies provided under this Act.
(1) The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any agreement.
(2) Every supplier and every manufacturer who purports to contract out of any provision of this Act commits an offence.
(3) Nothing in subsection (1) shall prevent a consumer who has a claim under this Act from agreeing to settle or compromise that claim.
(1) The Minister may appoint, from among public officers, a Controller of Consumer Affairs and such number of Deputy Controllers of Consumer Affairs, Assistant Controllers of Consumer Affairs and other officers as may be necessary for the purposes of this Act.
(2) The Controller shall, subject to the general direction and control of the Minister, perform the functions and duties imposed and exercise the powers conferred upon him under this Act.
(3) The Deputy Controllers, Assistant Controllers and other officers appointed under subsection (1) shall be under the direction and control of the Controller.
(4) A Deputy Controller may perform all the functions and duties imposed and exercise all the powers conferred upon the Controller under this Act.
(5) All officers appointed under this section shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the Penal Code [Act 574].
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