1 MONTH TO RECALIBRATE
BUSINESSES have one month from yesterday to adjust their prices following the government’s decision to zero-rate the Goods and Services Tax.
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DOMESTIC TRADE MINISTRY CRACKS DOWN ON PROFITEERING
THE Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry has given businesses one month from June 1 to recalibrate their prices in accordance with the government’s decision to zero-rate the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Its Enforcement Division director, Datuk Mohd Roslan Mahayudin, said the ministry would focus on dealing with price issues under the Price Control and AntiProfiteering Act 2011.
He said in this respect, the ministry had begun a crackdown on profiteering and other offences through an enforcement operation, code-named Op Catut 4.0, from May 24 to June 30.
“So far, we have checked 7,542 business premises nationwide, involving 235,374 goods.
“We are on the lookout for any attempts to profiteer or rake in excessive profit margins as stipulated under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.
“We are checking if there are any confusion over prices (Section 14 of the Trade Descriptions Act 2011), the issuance of receipts and purchase invoices (Section 140 of the Consumer Protection Act 1999),” he said after visiting the AEON BiG Supermarket here to check the implementation of zero-rated GST.
Roslan said those caught increasing the prices of goods and services would be issued with a notice to submit justifications for their actions.
He said if they failed to submit justifications, information or relevant documents within a stipulated time, they could be deemed as having violated the law.
He said the ministry had provided a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and guidelines on the implementation mechanism to identify excessive profits for businesses and consumers.
To date, the authorities had inspected 2.54 million premises, involving all distribution chains under Op Catut, which began on Jan 15, 2015 until May 25 this year.
“In that period, we issued 5,537 notices to traders who had raised their prices,” Roslan said.
He said the ministry’s operation room would be open from 8am to 10pm so consumers could lodge complaints via a toll-free line, 1800-886-800.
Complaints could also be made via http://eaduan.kpdnkk.gov.my or by messaging KPDNKK ADUAN to 15888.