SINGAPORE - Car importer SG Vehicles and its director were on Thursday ordered by the court to stop engaging in unfair trade practices, after Singapore's competition watchdog filed an injunction application against them in December 2017.
Case received a total of 92 complaints against SG Vehicles from January 2015 to November 2017, with the figure rising over the years despite initial efforts by the watchdog to resolve the complaints through negotiation and mediation. Case had requested SG Vehicles to sign a voluntary compliance agreement in July 2017, but it had refused to do so.
The court order also requires SG Vehicles to install a prominent sign outside its shopfront stating the full text of the order for six months from Thursday. If it fails to do so, affected consumers may contact Case for assistance on 6100-0315 or www.case.org.sg.In 2017, Case received the highest number of consumer complaints of 2,335 from the motoring industry.
Of the 1,829 complaints, 44 per cent were related to the loss of consumers' prepayments due to abrupt business closures, as well as aggressive sales tactics used on consumers, such as coercing consumers for the payment of services.