Bernama:
The government will amend the Direct Sales Act 1993 to protect consumers from becoming victims of pyramid scheme scams, said Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said the new Act will enable action to be taken against unlicensed companies.
“We are now finalising this Act as it is not very clear from the aspect of defining a pyramid scheme and also the action or punishment against unlicensed companies,” he told reporters after officiating the opening of the new Amyway (Malaysia) Holdings Bhd headquarters here on Friday.
The amended Act will be tabled for its first reading in Parliament at its next session in March.
The issuance of new licences will continue for companies wanting to enter the direct sales field.The period of the licences has however been reduced to a year only, compared to five previously.
A total of 32 new annual licences were issued in 2009 with the overall total to date being 491.
“The issuance of the licence has to be done carefully, with the business plan being carefuly scrutinised first.We will not issue a licence for a plan that is suspect,” he said.
Photo by Visions of Domino