SINGAPORE: The director of a nail salon chain that did not take court-ordered steps to protect consumers will serve three months in jail for contempt of court after his appeal to the High Court fell through on Monday (May 19).

Mr Kaiden Cheng, the managing director of two outlets under Nail Palace, had attempted to have his four-month jail term replaced with a S$10,000 (US$7,700) fine or reduced to five days' imprisonment.

He argued that his businesses had since complied with court orders by publishing notices in four major newspapers to inform the public of their unfair trade practices, and implementing a new consumer notification form in January.

However, Justice Audrey Lim found that a jail term was warranted as Nail Palace's breach of the court orders had substantial and irremediable effects.

As a result, many existing and new customers who bought services from the salons would have been deprived of the knowledge that they had engaged in unfair trade practices, she said.

Justice Lim further found that Nail Palace's breaches were ongoing, because its new consumer notification form and processes did not satisfy the court order.

In February and March, two Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) officers made four undercover visits to the two salons in Bukit Panjang and Simei to conduct spot checks.

They reported that they did not sign the consumer notification form until after the salons had started providing manicure or pedicure services to them.

At that point, services such as feet-washing, nail clipping and buffing, and application of basecoats to their nails had already been performed.

The claim that these were preparatory acts and common practice among nail salons as a prelude to the actual services was unbelievable, said Justice Lim.

Nail Palace's non-compliance with the consumer notification order was therefore "continuing, egregious and persistent".

She also noted that Nail Palace had a history of disregarding court orders, and that the salons' conduct showed they were not serious about making sure they were not in contempt of court.

There was public interest in ensuring prompt compliance with such court orders and bringing unfair business practices to the attention of consumers at large, said Justice Lim.

She reduced Mr Cheng's jail term by a quarter after taking into account that Nail Palace's January notices in the newspapers did comply with the court order, although they came more than 17 months after the initial deadline.

The two Nail Palace businesses were also ordered to pay costs and disbursements to CCCS.

As Mr Cheng's jail term was read out by the judge, a cry arose from the public gallery where he was seated with supporters. His sentence was deferred to May 26 to allow him to attend his sister's wedding.

Nail Palace (BPP) and Nail Palace (SM) were originally taken to task for unfair trade practices over the sale of anti-fungal treatment packages.

This included misleading a consumer over the need for anti-fungal treatment, and failing to inform a consumer that certain lip products were not free but included in the price of an anti-fungal treatment package.

In August and September 2022, CCCS obtained injunctions to stop both businesses from these unfair practices.

A district court ordered both businesses to publish a notice of the declarations and injunctions against them in four major Singapore newspapers by Aug 18, 2023.

For a period of two years, the businesses were also supposed to inform customers that they had engaged in the unfair practices and obtain customers' written acknowledgement of this before entering into contracts with them.

However, the businesses failed to comply with these requirements. In a first, CCCS took them to court for breach of the orders, and they were found guilty of contempt of court in September 2024.

Mr Cheng was sentenced to jail while Nail Palace (BPP) and Nail Palace (SM) were each fined S$15,000, which they have paid.