Panel to help consumers manage cost of living concerns

The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) will form a panel to help address Singaporeans' cost of living concerns, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Trade and Industry Tan Wu Meng said yesterday.

The Consumer Empowerment Panel, to be convened next month, will work with associations, unions and grassroots leaders to help consumers stretch their dollar, he said during the debate on his ministry's budget.

He did not give details but, in response to queries on the panel, Case vice-president Melvin Yong said it aims to "engage and empower consumers to make informed purchasing decisions".

"Through these efforts, we hope to help consumers better manage cost of living issues," he said.

Promoting consumer awareness and empowerment is among the ways the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) aims to strengthen consumer protection, Dr Tan noted in his response to Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten), who had asked whether the powers of the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) could be broadened to enable it to deal more effectively with errant retailers.

He also said the Government will study Mr Lim's suggestion. "But there is also a need to balance consumers' interests with a pro-business environment," he said.

Mr Lim, in calling for the CCCS to be given more powers, had noted at Monday's parliamentary sitting that the commission can impose financial penalties for violations of the Competition Act but lacks the same remedy in its consumer protection role.

Mr Lim, who is the president of Case, said that under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act (CPFTA), the CCCS may apply for an injunction to order a persistently errant business to cease an unfair practice.

Before doing so, however, it has to conduct an investigation and take statements from consumers, said Mr Lim. "This process is quite tedious and not all consumers will want to spend their personal time giving statements to CCCS and appearing in court as witnesses," he said.

Mr Lim asked if the CPFTA could be amended to give the CCCS the option to impose financial penalties on such retailers instead of getting a court injunction.

The CCCS has obtained two such injunctions since it took over the administration of the Act from Spring Singapore in 2018. Observers have said the process can be lengthy and ineffective.

MTI told The Straits Times that it is looking at the possibility of widening enforcement options for the CCCS to include administrative penalties for suppliers that infringe the Act, as suggested by Mr Lim.

"We will study the experiences of other jurisdictions on the effectiveness of administrative penalties as a deterrent against errant suppliers," a spokesman said.

Dr Tan said MTI has also cracked down on retailers who jacked up the prices of surgical masks, among other items, during the current Covid-19 outbreak.

Consumers can use the Price Kaki app developed by Case last year to help with purchasing decisions for daily necessities, he said.

Users can currently input and access up-to-date information on prices and discounts at supermarkets and hawker centres in Tampines, Toa Payoh and Jurong West.

Since the launch of the pilot scheme in September last year, the app has drawn almost 15,000 registered users who have provided more than 500,000 crowdsourced entries. It will be rolled out across the island in the coming months, Dr Tan said.