NST Leader: The many dangers of uncertified power banks

New Straits Times

26-05-2025

ALMOST everyone is walking around with a portable power bank in their bag or pocket. And yet Sirim certification is not mandatory.
Why? Sirim says the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry has yet to gazette power banks as products requiring the government-owned industrial research and technology body's certification.
Ask the ministry, as the New Sunday Times did, and a spokesperson put it thus: "Our role is limited to handling consumer complaints, such as if a buyer is deceived or receives a defective product." And so we end up in a grey area.
But perhaps we need to point out that in 2017, the ministry did announce plans for a Sirim certification for all power banks. The move was almost a certainty that the media, especially the technology news portals, began welcoming the move.
Because they know defective power banks can be fatally dangerous. But no answer is forthcoming as to why the plan was never realised. That begs a question: if the ministry could do it then, why not now? What exactly is holding up mandatory Sirim certification for power banks?
Those who care for consumer safety continue to warn the authorities that so long as there is no clear regulation, unsafe products such as power banks will continue to be sold. China, where most of the power banks come from, is doing a better job. Starting August last year, it banned uncertified power banks and batteries from leaving the factories, or being sold or exported.
Consumers associations have been urging the government for the longest time to make such certifications mandatory. There have been far too many cases of power banks catching fire, even exploding. One such tragic incident led to the death of a 19-year-old on May 26, 2017.
Understandably, consumers do not know which power banks are safe and which are not because the components that cause overheating are not visible to them. Even if they were, consumers won't be able to tell a defective device from one that isn't.
Sirim's certification can help them do so. As electrical engineer Associate Professor Dr Mohamad Fahmi Hussin told the New Sunday Times, low-quality power banks pose serious risk to users as they are more prone to overheating.
Because they are cheap — some are sold for RM30 — they don't have a battery management system, which is crucial for preventing overheating, overcharging and short circuits. Fahmi put it thus: "Without a battery management system, lithium-ion cells can enter thermal runaway — an uncontrolled, self-heating process that can lead to fires and explosions."
If this isn't enough, some manufacturers, he warned, use recycled or second-hand cells salvaged from discarded laptops or e-bikes, leading to deterioration overtime. Obviously, none of this degradation is visible to the users.
There is only one way out of this mess: the government must make Sirim certification mandatory for all secondary battery products, including power banks.
But it must not just stop there. A robust enforcement must follow. Crackdown on the sale of uncertified power banks mustn't be an occasional operation; it must be persistent.
In the meantime — we hope this isn't a very long "meantime" — our advice to consumers is this: stay away from uncertified power banks.