Gani issued a statement today after Mavcom was accused of carrying out a “protection scheme” to fund its operations.

He said travellers who fly can rest be assured they can head to Mavcom on automatic add-ons by airlines, post-purchase price increase of tickets, flight delays or even damaged baggage complaints.

“Your complaints have to be responded to within a set timeframe of 7 days and resolved within 30 days. There is no longer a need to rely on the mercy of commercial entities or being unsure of exactly when conflicts can be resolved,” he added.

He said he had been on the Steering Committee that worked to set up an aviation commission, and was concerned by recent social media postings and news articles seemed to be levelling targeted false accusations against Mavcom.

He pointed out that travellers were the largest beneficiary of Mavcom’s establishment as an independent regulator with responsibility to protect consumers. Neither the Ministry of Transport nor the Malaysia Competition Commission could offer such services, he said.

For passengers to contribute only RM1 when departing from a Malaysian airport seemed like “a sound investment for peace of mind”, he said. (Rural passengers in Sabah and Sarawak are exempted.)

Yesterday the Malaysian Public Transport Users Association (4PAM) had called for the RM1 levy to be stopped and for an investigation into how Mavcom was using the funds collected. The levy came into effect on May 1, and the RM1 fee is included in airline ticket prices.

Gani said “there was an urgent need to ensure that consumer protection and the rights of passengers were made a priority and would not fall through the cracks.”

Stop ‘protection money’ levy by Mavcom, says transport group