KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 — The Communications & Multimedia Consumer Forum of Malaysia (CFM) is planning to form an alternate dispute resolution (ADR) council that would allow consumers to bring serious complaints against the industry without the burden of going to court.

CFM chairman Megat Ishak Maamunor Rashid said that he is also working on other measures to streamline and expedite the handling of consumer complaints against telecommunication service providers, including reviving the CFM’s My Mobile Rights app.

"Under the CMA (Communications and Multimedia Act 1998), there is a section which says that CFM is supposed to set up an ADR. Right now, there aren’t a huge number of cases that need to be taken to court, and having lawyers hired, and we don’t want them (consumers) to go there, because it takes up a lot of time and money for both sides. So, it is not a positive thing.

"So, in place of that, let’s say you are still unhappy with how things are being handled, there is this thing called the ADR,” Megat told Malay Mail in a recent interview.

Megat said his vision for the ADR was for it to be held in the same regard as the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC), with a goal to incorporate mediation. The ADR will be managed by CFM, with a strict focus on telecommunications service provider disputes.

He said he hopes to recruit experienced industry professionals, including former telecommunications company executives and retired Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) officers, to serve as mediators within the ADR.

"So, we get people who are completely impartial. They have got nothing to gain or lose. So, they can sit in as the mediators. That is what we have in mind for the ADR moving forward, which will bring CFM to a whole new level.

"The government had very amazing foresight 30, 40 years back — ahead of its time — where we converged all the technology together. Nobody saw that back in the 90s, nobody could anticipate what it was going to be like, but what we are experiencing now, your mobile phones are having tv, radio and everything. So that is converged technology right there, and having that converged technology, they realised that they wanted the industry, the service providers, to do their business, get creative, get innovative and not be hampered by unnecessary regulations. Which is why they decided to have self-regulation.

"So, one way to carry out self-regulation is by having this forum that comprises both the service providers as well as the consumer rights activist on the other side,” Megat added.

CFM was established in February 2001 as a society with representation from all relevant parties, including the "supply and demand” sides of the communications and multimedia industry. It was designated by MCMC as the Communications and Multimedia Consumer Forum in 2002, with the primary aim of protecting the rights of consumers in that sector. This falls in line with the requirements of the CMA, which promotes industry self-regulation.

As a designated forum, CFM is responsible for various tasks, including the development of consumer Codes that serve as fundamental guidelines for service provision by communications and multimedia service providers.

Bringing back the My Mobile Rights app

On the My Mobile Rights (MMR) app, Megat said it had been a high-level campaign, but received lukewarm response owing to a lack of advocacy.

MMR is an initiative under the Consumer Empowerment Plan 2014-2016 by the MCMC, with the objective of empowering consumers through a developmental approach and was launched by then communications and multimedia deputy minister, Datuk Jailani Johari in 2016.

"So, the whole idea in having the app is to enable complainants to quickly type in their complaints. It can be 2am in the morning, and they are perhaps too tired to open up their laptops or make phone calls.

"Unfortunately, there were not many takers so the app has gone down a little bit. That is why I am trying to revive this again. I started the ball rolling when I was CFM’s first term chairman from 2025 till 2017, and I aim to push this agenda for the consumers because it is practical and it is easy for consumers to lodge complaints,” he added.

Megat said that the app is user-friendly and has all the guidance needed to help consumers lodge their complaints.