KUALA LUMPUR: The debate on the Bar Council's decision to enforce the no-discount rule has barely died down, and two consumer-related bodies have come out in support of the rule.
Yesterday, the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) and National Housebuyers Associations backed a memorandum issued by nine professional bodies in support of the rule under the Solicitors' Remuneration Order, which disallows discount on the scale of fees.
Fomca complaints division manager Darshan Singh said the quality of services could be compromised if discounts were given.
“We support the rule as we don't want consumers to be short-changed,” he told a joint press conference yesterday.
The bodies issuing the memorandum are the Bar Council, Association of Valuers & Property Consultants in Private Practice Malaysia, Board of Town Planners Malaysia, Institution of Engineers Malaysia, Institution of Surveyors Malaysia, The Malaysian Institute of Architects, Malaysian Medical Association, Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia and Malaysian Institute of Planners.
The memorandum states that “shopping around” for cheaper fees will lead to an unhealthy widespread undercutting of professional fees which can compromise services rendered.
Bar Council chairman Yeo Yang Poh said it was not in the public's interest or that of the various professions for fees to be decided solely by market forces.
“In a free market situation, it is often too tempting for consumers requiring professional services to seek out the cheapest, sidelining the issue of quality, particularly when such quality is not immediately or easily discernible,” he said.
However, Real Estate and Housing Developers Association president Datuk Jeffrey Ng said the no-discount rule was a step backward as the market was supposed to be open and not protected.
“In other countries, fees are negotiated. The scale of fees should be used as a guideline without the no-discount rule,” he said.
Clients, he added, should not be expected to pay the same amount of fees to less experienced professionals and those going back to the same consultant should be entitled to a discount.
... written by Ong Siew Wan,
Saturday, January 21 2006 09:41 am
It was reported by The Star that Datuk Jeffrey Ng said that clients should not be expected to pay the same amount of fee to less experienced professionals. I think he might have miss the point and failed to see the matter as a whole.
We are here talking about the profession as a whole and not one individual, with the scale fee the less experienced professional must therefore improve their quality in order to compete within the industry and thus improve the quality of services of the profession as a whole.
I am wondering whether the developer will give discount to their house price up to 50%, the rate that they always demand the lawyers to give?
It is my view that the legal fee is never the factor affecting the decision of one potential buyer whether to buy the house. Would the potential buyer buy two houses if legal fee is discounted to 50% or buy three houses if he need not pay legal fee? To me the deciding factor will be the location and the QUALITY of the house built.
LEAVE THE LOWLY ALONE ... written by Stephen Tan Ban Cheng,
Saturday, January 21 2006 01:07 pm
Dear Siew Wan
Dato Whatever-His-Name is not a lawyer. Or is he?
He is just a businessman.
And, with respect, businessmen will never know that once a person is qualified, he cannot be further qualified.
We know where businessmen and merchants rank in Confucian culture.
This is because in the Confucian view, most merchants are high-living but low-thinking creatures.
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It was reported by The Star that Datuk Jeffrey Ng said that clients should not be expected to pay the same amount of fee to less experienced professionals. I think he might have miss the point and failed to see the matter as a whole.
We are here talking about the profession as a whole and not one individual, with the scale fee the less experienced professional must therefore improve their quality in order to compete within the industry and thus improve the quality of services of the profession as a whole.
I am wondering whether the developer will give discount to their house price up to 50%, the rate that they always demand the lawyers to give?
It is my view that the legal fee is never the factor affecting the decision of one potential buyer whether to buy the house. Would the potential buyer buy two houses if legal fee is discounted to 50% or buy three houses if he need not pay legal fee? To me the deciding factor will be the location and the QUALITY of the house built.