Thursday, August 07, 2008

Illegal to tout and overcharge

I read a newspaper report that taxis now put up a sign "It is illegal for electronic stores and tailors to tout and overcharge".

What is touting? Are financial products being marketing at MRT stations considered as touting?

What is over-charging? Many financial products have excessive charges that give poor value to consumers.

Will it be illegal for financial institutions (i.e banks and insurance companies) to tout and over-charge for their financial products?

Why only go after electronic stores and tailors, when the overcharging in financial products is 10 times or more?
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2 comments:

zhummmeng said...

Roadshows is a supposed to be some sort of exhibition or passive promotion of products but it is becoming a pasar malam stall to tout for business and very often to the irritation of the the passerbys.Sometime the touts would harass the passerbys and become a nuisance to the public.
Anyway, insurance should not be bought at roadshows...Your needs are compromised and at roadshows there is no intention to provide this. It is setup to sell and dump and make quick money.
If the roadshow is to gather information or to make contact or is a preliminary to the more serious discussion of needs later in the future, then it is alright because a person's finances cannot be identified in so short a time.
Never buy insurance at roadshows. Remember your financial future is very important and there is no way that they can be seriously addressed at the roadshow. Just like you won't trust a doctor or a lawyer if he or she starts touting at the roadshow. Something is wrong, right? Anyway , the laws and regulations for these 2 professions are in place so you won't find them conducting roadshows and touting at mrt or shopping malls.
MAS should should have similar laws to regulate these activities by insurance salesmen. In mature markets like US , UK and Australia they are banned. They are considered hookering or prostituting for business which is demeaning and not consistent with the 'nobility' of this business.
If MAS is serious about cleaning up the insurance industry of the errant agents and malpractitioners it must act and not waste time talking and giving guidelines for insurance companies for safekeeping in the cupboard.

August 07, 2008 10:03 AM
Falcon said...

Could it be because the govt has not vested interests in electronic stores and tailoring business?

August 09, 2008 1:26 PM

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