Question

Alfred runs a restaurant at a very busy business hub at Kuala Lumpur. He pays a rental of RM3,800 monthly. Due to Covid – 19, his landlord Alpha Sdn Bhd, reduced the rental by 40% for the month of March, April and May as Alfred’s business would be severely affected. Alfred is very pleased with this arrangement and is very thankful to his landlord. As the Movement Control Order (MCO) was lifted on 9th June 2020, Alfred resumed his business operations on 10th June. However, Alpha Sdn Bhd now wishes to claim for the reduction which was provided to Alfred for the three months namely March, April and May. On another note, Betty who is blessed with twins, sends her kids to a day care centre named Mollies Cuties. She has paid them RM6000 for the first half of 2020 i.e. January to June whereby the amount for each month is RM1000. She will pay the balance of RM6000 on 1st July for the period of July to December 2020. In view of Covid-19, she was not able to send her kids to the day care centre as the MCO was placed on 18th March. Betty now wishes to claim for a refund for the month of April, May and June. Mollies Cuties refuses to refund the payment. In fact, Mollies Cuties insists that Betty should also pay for the month of July to December 2020. Advise Alfred and Betty

Answer 1

Answer = As per Promissory estoppel, the party that promises to the other party for a certain act or thing can be stopped on going back on his or her promise and the other party can recover the damages caused due to back off of that person from the promise. So in the given case, as landlord promised Alfred to give 40% discounts on rent for three months, Alfred can quote that promise and can refuse to pay the additional amount

Answer= As per rule, the service providers such as schools and colleges are to compensate for the loss of service periods, and thus Mollies Cuties has the responsibility to extend the period for which the services were not provided to the customers. So Betty can ask Mollies Cuties to extend the period for which no service was provided and compensate for that period.