Take your pick

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 06/19/2006 3:02 PM | Business

There are four consumer organizations in Surabaya -- and they're underwhelmed with work.

Take the Consumer Protection Institute (YLPK) which concerns itself with complaints against Telkom, the banks, public transportation and public services. It looks a heavy load, but the YLPK's annual report shows only 107 complaints for last year.

The positive news is that this figure represents a significant jump from 2004, when only 31 people were sufficiently aroused to report their concerns. Most involve transportation problems.

""The public transportation system is in a bad way,"" said YLPK head Mohamed Said Sutomo, pointing to lack of safety, dirty buses and failure to keep to advertised schedules.

""It's very difficult to get improvements in this sector, though we've had successes elsewhere -- particularly with Telkom and the banks. Indonesians are still afraid to complain. They fear the power of big business and don't know they have rights.""

Although there is no queue of distressed complainants outside the YLPK offices, the seven staff members are busy lecturing to school and university students about consumer rights, and chasing up issues on their own initiative, Sutomo said.

When visited by The Jakarta Post, Sutomo was trying to get action against a pyramid scheme, also known as multi-level marketing.

In this case, village people were being coaxed to buy and sell mobile phone subscriptions to their friends and relatives and earn big commissions after they bought a franchise. Or so said the salesmen preaching to the gullible.

""This sort of marketing is illegal,"" said Sutomo. ""You can't even get mobile phone services in the villages where these companies have been touting for business. I've already found one victim who claims to have lost Rp 1.5 million (US$180).

Comments (0) | Post comment

A | A | A |