Traders to pay for steep prices

All in order: Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hasan Malek weighing a chicken sold at a stall while conducting checks under Ops Harga 2.0 at Pasar Besar Seremban.

JOHOR BARU: Market traders who sell overpriced goods or fail to put up price signs would no longer be slapped with compounds but would be charged in court instead.

Johor Domestic Trade, Coopera­tives and Consumerism Ministry director Ayub Rahman said the new regulation was meant to ensure traders adhere to the rules.

“Traders caught violating the Weight and Measures Act or the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act will be charged in court.

“With this new regulation, traders should be serious about proper labelling and pricing of goods,” he told reporters after a price-check exercise at a hypermarket in Tampoi Indah yesterday.

Price is right: A State Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism official conducting inspections on produce at a wet market in Kuala Terengganu.

Ayub said that the new regulation was implemented in conjunction with the nationwide launch of Ops Harga 2.0.

“Usually we would issue a minimal compound of RM100 to traders who violated the rules.

“However, we noticed that many traders did not take their offences seriously as the penalty was a small sum to most of them,” he said.

In Pontian, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan said consumers should boycott shops or items that were unreasonably priced.

“The Government reduced subsidies for oil and sugar and increased the electricity tariff but these things should not cause such a massive increase in the price of items across the board.

“In fact, the increase should only be minimal.

“That’s why I urge the people to boycott shops that overcharge or increase the prices of their goods at an unreasonable rate,” he said after opening a library at Desa Parit Puteri Menangis in Benut here yesterday.

Ahmad said that using the increase in the price of petrol as an excuse to raise the cost of most goods was not logical.

“I heard that even the price of sweet potato had increased and I just cannot fathom why.

“That should not be because the increase in the price of fuel in transportation only makes up a fraction of the cost for a product,” he said.

He also said that there were about 120 Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia shops throughout the country and an additional 60 would be set up this year.

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