KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 ― The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs ministry received a total of  127 complaints against catering service providers since 2014 to last September.

Its minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the complaints and claims received by the ministry were still considered low and only occurred during certain seasons, especially during the school holidays.

He said the Malaysian Consumer Claims Tribunal recorded 65 complaints filed with a value of RM415,000 in 2018, while from January to September this year, the tribunal registered 35 complaints valued at RM185,000.

"They are all complaints about food of poor quality, inadequate amount of food and delays in delivering food,” he said during Minister Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was replying to a question from Nor Azrina Surip (PH-Merbok) who wanted to know the significance of the recent launch of the Catering Industry Action Plan 2020, the contribution of the catering industry to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the number of complaints received by the ministry against catering service providers.

Saifuddin said the catering industry's contribution to the GDP was RM 3.6 billion in 2010 and increased to RM5.8 billion in 2015.

He added that statistics also showed that the registration of catering services with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) is growing with 88,192 businesses registered from 2013 to 2019.

"With this trend of increase, the recently launched Catering Industry Action Plan 2020 is seen as an intervention measure to address some of the issues faced by catering industry players, suppliers and thus protecting the rights and interests of consumers,” he said. ― Bernama