KUALA LUMPUR – Deputy Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Fuziah Salleh cautioned traders unaffected by the sales and service tax (SST) hike not to take advantage by raising prices to gain extra profits from consumers.
She emphasised that such actions are irresponsible and may result in penalties if found guilty.
“Consumers need to know which categories are subject to the SST increase. There are many (categories), but for this Ops Kesan, we will concentrate on four: hospitality, health and wellness, training and education centres, and laundry services.”
“We monitor these four in Ops Kesan and target establishments with a threshold value exceeding RM500,000, not the smaller ones. So, not all are affected, and the public should be aware that food and beverages are not included in the SST increase,” she said after a walkabout at the Pahang Rahmah Madani Sales Carnival in Dataran Anjung Pusat Bandar Jengka today.
Fuziah hopes that the public will be more aware of SST tax-related information and advises those facing price hike issues to lodge complaints.
She listed the following channels for complaints: WhatsApp hotline at 019-848 000, the ministry’s EZ Aduan app, the ministry’s hotline at 1-800-88-800, or the ministry’s e-Aduan portal.
She said that since the launch of Ops Kesan on March 1, the Domestic Trade Ministry has conducted over 1,000 inspections nationwide, issuing 26 notices to traders who were found to be in violation.
Meanwhile, Azman Ismail, director of Kelantan’s Domestic Trade Ministry, said that if there is evidence of profiteering, action will be taken against traders, including those in Ramadan bazaars.
Azman said that, while food vendors in Ramadan bazaars are not directly affected by the 6% to 8% SST increase, monitoring is still being conducted to ensure they do not take advantage of customers.
He emphasised that the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act of 2011 prohibits traders from profiting more than 50% of the cost.
“If there are traders who arbitrarily raise prices, we will take action under the act,” he said.
In Perlis, the state Domestic Trade Ministry will continue to monitor the prices of goods to ensure that no one takes advantage by raising prices following the implementation of the new SST rates last Friday.
The state ministry’s director, Norazah Jaapar, said that their monitoring efforts began on March 1, and that Ops Kesan, which involved the hospitality industry, was also initiated on that day.
Domestic Trade Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali was reported yesterday as saying that on March 1, the ministry launched Ops Kesan 2024 to monitor the effects of the service tax rate increase.
The goal of monitoring and enforcement is to ensure that traders at all levels do not take advantage of the situation by profiting or raising prices in violation of anti-profiteering laws. – March 3, 2024