SINGAPORE - Mediation between consumers and motorcar businesses were the most common in 2014, the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) said on Tuesday.
The association said that cases involving the beauty industry and the contractor industry were the second and third most common last year.
In 2013, the motorcar industry ranked fourth on the list of industries with the highest number of CASE mediated cases. It registered the highest jump in mediation cases and rose to the top of the list this year with 23 mediated cases conducted by CASE.
At the same time, the motorcar industry also registered high resolution rates of 91.3 per cent, the second highest for 2014. The slimming and furniture industries achieved 100 per cent resolution rates through CASE last year.
CASE also achieved a higher mediation success rate in 2014. Over 75 per cent or 94 out of 125 mediated cases were solved through CASE last year. In contrast, 68.5 per cent or a total of 100 cases out of 146 mediated cases were solved the year before.
CASE also said that it helped customers recoup a total of $439,701 in 2014, up from $284,465 the year before.
The increase in the amount recouped for customers could be a sign that more consumers with unresolved high-value disputes are turning to mediation for resolution, CASE added.
CASE president Mr Lim Biow Chuan said: "Mediation is a more efficient, cost-effective and less labour-intensive alternative to litigation. It offers a less hostile and less confrontational method for resolving disputes, where both parties attempt the resolve dispute themselves with the assistance of a mediator."
Mr Lim added that consumers and businesses are strongly encouraged to seek mediation as an alternative form of dispute resolution.
