STRENGTHENING CONSUMER PROTECTION FOR POST-PURCHASE IN ELECTRONIC COMMERCE TRANSACTIONS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Abstract

The Consumer Protection Act of 1999 (CPA 1999), provides consumer protection in Malaysia. On the other hand, the Contract Act 1956 is vital in regulating contractual transactions in Malaysia. However, this protection must be improved in electronic commerce transactions, particularly after the consumer has completed the payment, often known as post-purchase. Additionally, although much research has been conducted on post-purchase in electronic commerce transactions, there is yet to be a concrete solution to address the lacuna in the Act itself, especially since most of these statutes were enacted before electronic commerce transactions. Various statutes had been critically analysed, including but not limited to the Consumer Protection Act of 1999 (CPA 1999), Consumer Protection (Electronic Trade Transaction) Regulation 2012 (CPR 2012), Contract Act 1956 (CA 1956), and Sales of Goods Act 1957 (SOGA 1957). Due to the rapid advancement of consumer protection in the United Kingdom, various legal frameworks have also been critically analysed to recommend improvements to the current legal framework and consumer protection in Malaysia. Secondary information was used in this study, based on analysing scholarly databases such as Google Scholar and websites belonging to consumer organisations and publications covering pandemics, non-government organisations, and governmental organisations. Findings found a few main legal issues in the post-purchase electronic commerce transactions in the post-purchase phase. These were deemed to be the primary legal concerns in electronic commerce transactions. Recommendations were made to enhance the regulation in these aspects. This paper has provided additional insight into the current lacuna in consumer protection in Malaysia in the post-purchase phase. This also updates the body of knowledge in this area, which can help legislators to amend archaic provisions in current legal frameworks.