Timeshare businesses will no longer be able to collect money during the mandatory five-day cooling off period, if proposed changes to the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act (CPFTA) are passed.

A public consultation paper issued on Monday is seeking to make this illegal. Issued by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, it also seeks to extend the scope of the CPFTA to include holiday club memberships.

These memberships, which generally involve an advance payment for the right to obtain holiday benefits such as discounted accommodation and airfares, said the MTI in its statement, are "essentially offering a substantially similar product to timeshare".

They are currently not subject to the mandatory cooling-off period.