PPIM and AGR reach amicable settlement

SERI KEMBANGAN: A consumer association and a auto trader appeared to have resolved their dispute after days of exchange over a car leasing arrangement which had affected hundreds of car owners.
The Islamic Consumer Association of Malaysia (PPIM) and AGR Auto Trade (AGR) reached a settlement after another standoff outside the AGR headquarters today.
The AGR management agreed to release five more vehicles and 53 car keys to victims who were allegedly cheated in the scheme.
Things came to a head between AGR and the PPIM when the consumer activists and victims stormed the AGR yard in Kajang on July 10 and removed vehicles. The whole incident was aired live on PPIM Facebook page and this triggered a debate about PPIM's conduct.
Both sides made police reports which culminated in Selangor police forming a task force to investigate the reports.
AGR chief executive officer Datuk Seri C. Kamaleshwaran said he was in the dark over the whole scheme as he only took over the company in May.
"A police report had been lodged against AGR's previous management last Friday," he told reporters.
Under the scheme, vehicles that had been leased to AGR would be rented to a third party. On top of the money to pay the cars' monthly instalment, owners of the leased vehicles were also promised cash incentives by AGR.
The issue surfaced when several car owners claimed that they had not been paid the promised amount and had been blacklisted due to unpaid instalments to the bank.
Kamaleshwaran said they could not simply order the release of other cars as it had been under a rental agreement with another party.
Earlier, PPIM activists along with several car owners came to the AGR office at around 11.30am to demand the release of their vehicles.
The group, led by PPIM special action unit chief Yusuf Azmi, were invited by the company's representatives into the premises to negotiate the terms for the release of vehicles but the mounting tension was defused when Serdang OCPD Asst Comm Megat Mohamad Aminuddin Megat Alias mediated.
One of the victims, Sazura Sulaiman, said she was promised a payment of RM900 a month for a Proton Saga she leased to the company.
"From the amount, RM500 will be used to pay my installment loan to the bank. The remaining is considered my profit for leasing the car," she said.
She said the payment came to her fine only on the first month after she started to lease her vehicle in August last year, but after that things went downhill.
Sazura said the payment depends on the type of vehicle leased, stating that a leased Proton Iriz could receive a payment of RM1,200 from AGR.