Over 2,000 premises inspected by Domestic Trade Ministry following SST increase

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 2,200 premises have been inspected in Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry operations following the two percentage point increase in sales and service tax (SST) from 6% to 8%, the Dewan Rakyat was told.

Deputy Minister Fuziah Salleh said 2,239 premises were inspected and 66 notices issued under Ops Kesan as of Monday (March 4) morning.

She said those with notices will have to justify their cost increases within a four-day period.

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“If we find there really is an unreasonable price increase, we will give them another four days to justify it.

“The ministry also has the authority to find out how much is actually spent from (the raw materials to product stage)," she told Nurul Amin Hamid (PN-Padang Terap), who asked about the latest developments in Ops Kesan.

The operation was launched to assess the impact of the recent increase in SST, and carried out under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.

Separately, Fuziah said there were 5,904 cases of violations of the Act last year, with compounds from the offences exceeding RM1.4 mil.

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She was replying to Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias (BN-Jelebu), who asked about the number of traders who breached the Act last year and whether or not the law was still relevant.

To this, Fuziah said the Act was a mechanism to protect consumers from unethical traders.

She added that all traders will be monitored, including hotels, food festivals and also operators at the coming Ramadan bazaars.

“If there are complaints, we will look into it and calculate their margins and their production (costs).

“We have the formula,” she said in reply to a supplementary question by Jalaluddin on whether or not the Act would be enforced on hotels, restaurants, food festivals and Ramadan bazaars.