From July 1 onwards, applications service and content providers will not be able to get away scot-free if they are found to be guilty of short message service (SMS) abuses.

Legal action would be taken against such errant companies when the Communications and Multimedia (Amendment) Act comes into force by then, said Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Compliance Department   director Sharizan Abdul Aziz.

"At present, small companies are the main culprits," she told reporters after presenting a paper on "The Role of MCMC in Protecting Consumer Rights" at a seminar on "Consumer Rights in Communications and Multimedia Services" organised by MCMC in Kuching today.

She said the penalties imposed, which could include jail terms, should be a deterrent for small compaines that could face business closure while big public-listed companies might lost the confidence of their stakeholders and investors.

According to the Consumer Forum Malaysia (CFM)'s updates, unsubscribed SMS accounted for 69 percent of the total 97 complaints received on SMS abuse in 2009, followed by SMS scam (13 percent), and SMS spam and promotional SMS (seven percent).

The monthly average number of such cases had recorded a 100 percent increase, from eight cases a month last year to 16 cases per month this year.

'Don’t simply sign up'

At the moment, CFM has monitored unsubscribed SMS offering porn video downloads, promoting medicine for male virility, notification of winnings as well as promotional ones enticing voluntary airtime reloads by offering airtime credits and ambiguous SMS, which promote download services with hidden charges, as the most common SMS spam.

CFM received a total of 1,331 complaints last year nationwide.

"Be an informed consumer, do not simply sign up," Sharizan said, adding that mobile phone subcribers totalled 30.3 million nationwide at the end of last year, with a penetration rate of 106.2 percent.

She said MCMC still needed to conduct more consumer rights awareness seminars and exhibitions, especially in Sarawak, which recorded only 20 complaints last year, reflecting a lack of information on how to channel their grouses.

Overall, the service providers resolved 87 percent or 4,248 complaints throughout the country last year, mainly on unsatisfactory service, including slow Internet connection, inaccurate billing charges and non-response on SMS-type of complaints.

- Bernama