Govt intensifies efforts to protect electronics buyers<\/p>\n
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Starting July, the government would penalize stores that sell
\nelectronic products which do not carry guarantee cards and
\ninstruction manuals in the Indonesian language, a senior
\ngovernmental official said Monday.<\/p>\n
Director for the supervision of trade goods and services at
\nthe Ministry of Industry and Trade Budi Darmadi said the move was
\npart of the government's effort to protect consumers in line with
\nConsumer Protection Law No. 8\/1999.<\/p>\n
As part of the implementation of the law, the ministry issued
\na decree last July obligating 17 electronic items, including
\nradio cassette players, VCD\/DVD players, televisions, printers,
\nrefrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and cell
\nphones, to carry guarantee cards and manuals in Indonesian.<\/p>\n
\"The punishment ranges from the revocation of the stores'
\nlicenses to the imprisonment of the owners,\" Budi said during a a
\nvisit to the ITC Roxi Mas shopping center in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Budi visited the shopping center as part of the ministry's
\npublic campaigns to disseminate information about the regulation.<\/p>\n
He said he believed that the electronic goods which were sold
\nwithout guarantee cards and Indonesian-language manuals had been
\nillegally imported into the country.<\/p>\n
\"For the time being, we can tolerate traders who sell
\nelectronics without guarantee cards and instruction manuals in
\nIndonesian.<\/p>\n
\"However, after July, we will take tough measures against
\nthose who sell goods without these items,\" he warned traders who
\nattended the meeting at ITC Roxi Mas.<\/p>\n
Budi said the regulation also aimed at curbing the rampant
\nsmuggling of electronic goods into the country.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Electronics Association (Gabel) has said that
\n50 percent of imported electronics sold on the local market had
\nbeen imported illegally.<\/p>\n
The association has often voiced concerns over the illegally
\nimported products, saying they badly hurt the sales of locally-
\nmade products.<\/p>\n
Many consumers prefer buying illegally imported electronics
\nbecause they are much cheaper than legally imported ones, while
\nthe availability of guarantee cards or any manuals did not really
\nmatter to them.<\/p>\n
According to chairman of the cell phone vendors association
\n(APTEG) Muhardi Noor, a legally imported Nokia communicator was
\noffered at Rp 6.3 million, while the illegal one was priced about
\nRp 800,000 cheaper.<\/p>\n
\"Cell phones of more market-friendly series, like the 3-series
\nof Nokia, have about a Rp 300,000 difference between the legal
\nand illegal ones,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"In such a case, we vendors do not manipulate anything. We
\nalways tell our buyers whether the items are illegal or not. The
\ntransactions are all legal as long as the consumers agree to buy
\nsuch products, right?\" said Muhardi.<\/p>\n
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, sales of
\nelectronics in Indonesia are estimated to reach about Rp 20
\ntrillion (US$2.22 billion) in 2003 and Rp 29 trillion in 2005.<\/p>\n
Chairwoman of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) Indah
\nSuksmaningsih welcomed the government's move, saying the use of
\nthe Indonesian language in guarantee cards and manuals was
\nimportant for consumers to understand their rights.<\/p>\n
\"They have the right to understand what they will get from a
\nproduct, like a limited guarantee or any after-sales service, and
\nthe use of Indonesian will make it easier,\" Indah told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
She also explained that Indonesian consumers should start to
\nrealize that a cheap price was not everything.<\/p>\n
\"Buying legal products means supporting the domestic industry
\nwhich employs thousands of people. If people do not buy legal
\nproducts, the industry will be affected and thousands of people
\nwill become unemployed,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"Unemployment will later become a social threat. It is
\npossible that the unemployed will resort to stealing and other
\ncrimes some day, only because of the sales of illegal items,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-intensifies-efforts-to-protect-electronics-buyers-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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