SHAH ALAM: Traders who hike up the price of goods above the ceiling price will face fines and legal actions under the law.
Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry enforcement director Mohd Roslan Mahayudin said the ministry is ready to ‘tackle’ unscrupulous traders by continuing the price control operation, Ops Catut launched Jan 15 this year.
He added checks will also be conducted even when there is no price control scheme enforced.
As to date, the ministry has conducted 295,637 checks on premises nationwide with over 1,708 cases involving unwarranted price hike recorded. The ministry has also issued 151 notice to traders who were found guilty of the offence.
"We are continuously conducting checks, especially in light of the implementation of the government and services tax (GST) soon.
"Ops Catut is slightly different from other operations we have conducted before as we need to be specific and accurate on analysing whether the trader has actually committed profiteering.
"That's why when we encounter a trader who has hiked up the price of goods, we will issue a notice requiring him to list down all the business expenses including electricity bill, wages and rental.
"He or she will have to reply to us within three days as required under Section 21 of the Price Control and Anti Profiteering Act 2011.
"If found guilty, we will not hesitate to take action," he said after conducting the Chinese New Year Price Control operation in various markets, here, today.
The price control scheme for the festive season is from February 14 to February 25 and includes 13 types of items.
Mohd Roslan said that most items that were hiked up include grocery items such as eggs, poultry and vegetables. He added that most traders said that they do not know the actual ceiling price for goods as an excuse when they were caught.
"However, we cannot accept such excuse because the ministry has issued various circulars as well as conduct awareness programmes to ensure that all traders are kept informed. They have also been told repeatedly that the ministry will conduct various operations to protect the consumers," he said.
