PUTRAJAYA: MY E.G. Services Berhad and MYEG Commerce Sdn Bhd did not abuse their dominant position pertaining to the sale of mandatory insurance policies for online renewal of temporary employment permits for foreign workers, the Court of Appeal heard.
Lawyer Datuk Wira Mohd Hafarizam Harun, representing MY E.G Services and MYEG Commerce, argued that the contract entered into by My E.G. Services and the government to provide online renewal for foreign worker permit was not an exclusive agreement.
He said any competitor could enter into the same agreement with the government and would also be able to implement the same foreign worker permit renewal system.
He also argued that the manner in which mandatory insurance policies were purchased differed, where one method allowed end users to purchase the mandatory insurance directly via the online renewal system and payment for the policies would be made simultaneously with the payment for the renewal of the temporary employment permits.
Mohd Hafarizam said the second method allowed end users to contact their own insurance agents to purchase the mandatory insurance on their own where payment would be made to those insurance agents.
Mohd Hafarizam said for end users who purchased the mandatory insurance from other insurance companies, additional verification requirement was a necessity to prevent fraudulent policies.
He said the High Court judge erred in fact and law by affirming the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s (CAT) decision that My E.G Services and MYEG Commerce had abused their dominant position by imposing the additional steps on end users without considering that the companies had responsibility to abide by the laws set by the government through the Immigration Department.
Mohd Hafarizam was submitting before a three-member panel led by Justice Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah in an appeal brought by My E.G Services, an e-government service provider, and its wholly-owned subsidiary company MyEG Commerce.
The appellants were appealing against the High Court’s dismissal of the companies’ judicial review to quash the decision of CAT.
On June 24, 2016, the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) found that MY E.G. Services and MyEG Commerce had infringed Section 10(2)(d)(iii) of the Competition Act 2010 for abusing their dominant position by applying different conditions to equivalent transactions with competitors in the market for sale of mandatory insurance for online renewal applications of temporary employment permits for foreign workers.
On Dec 28, 2017, CAT dismissed the appeal by My E.G Services and MYEG Commerce against MyCC’s decision.
The appellants were ordered to pay a penalty of RM9.337 million which included financial penalty of RM307,200 and daily penalties from Oct 7, 2015 to Jan 22, 2019 amounting to RM9.03 million.
Additionally, the appellants were still liable for a daily penalty of RM7,500 per day until they comply with the directives imposed by MyCC in its decision.
The other two judges presiding on the panel were Justices S.Nantha Balan and Datuk Lee Heng Cheong.
In the proceedings, conducted via Zoom, Mohd Hafarizam also submitted that the financial penalty imposed by MyCC and affirmed by CAT and the additional penalty imposed by CAT were disproportionate and manifestly excessive.
The court fixed March 15 for lawyer Datuk Lim Chee Wee, who is representing MyCC, to make his submissions. — Bernama
