Lee (in white shirt) chairing a meeting to discuss strategies and ways to improve consumer awareness at UTC Johor in Johor Baru on Thursday.
JOHOR BARU: It will soon be compulsory for traders in Johor to clearly display their prices as part of the requirements for their business licence.
The matter has been approved by the state government’s executive council meeting recently, and the Johor Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (KPDNHEP) is taking steps to coordinate and implement the regulation with other relevant agencies, said Johor investment, trade and consumer affairs committee chairman Lee Ting Han.
“All retailers are required to display the price of their products visibly, which is a law under the Price Control Order (Indication of Price by Retailer), and this will be part of their business licence condition.
“Among the objectives of this move is to create responsible business practices that safeguards the rights of consumers by displaying the prices and information related to their products visibly.
“This will surely help consumers in making decisions and planning their spending,” he said on Thursday (July 28), after chairing a meeting here with Johor KPDNHEP, other related government agencies, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and non-governmental organisations.
During the meeting, they also discussed strategies and ways to improve consumer awareness.
Lee also explained the new regulation could minimise misunderstanding between traders and customers, and avoid the consumer from feeling duped.
He cited a recent incident at a durian stall in Taman Sutera Utama, where a customer enquired about the price of the fruit and attracted untoward behaviour from one of the stall workers.
The durian stall’s owner later took to social media and stated that he would be suing the customer for defamation as he meant to claim RM200,000 in compensation.
Meanwhile, Lee said as of June 30, Johor KPDNHEP has conducted checks at 53,814 businesses linked to profiteering, failure to display pricing and labelling.
A total of 1,241 notices for a hearing were also issued by the state consumer claims tribunal where the majority of them involved furniture, he said.
Lee urged the public to assist the government in reporting or channeling complaints to KPDNHEP via WhatsApp to 019-279 4317, Ez Adu KPDNHEP smartphone app or email to e-aduan@kpdnhep.gov.my.
