Safer online shopping

BERA: The Electronic Commerce Act 2006 will be amended to protect and prevent consumers who shop online from being duped, said Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said the proposed amendments were being scrutinised by the Attorney-General's Chambers and would be tabled in the next Parliament session.

"Nowadays, anyone can claim to have a business online without any effective way for consumers to verify it.

"This has resulted in people becoming victims," he said yesterday.

Ismail Sabri added that the ministry had sought cooperation from agencies such as the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia, to prepare the proposal.

Commercial transactions performed over the Internet had prompted the government to introduce the Act.

It has three main objectives -- to reaffirm the validity and legal effects of transactions by electronic means, to remove legal obstacles to e-commerce and to provide certainty in electronic communications.