KUALA LUMPUR: Official complaints of hoarding of subsidised packet cooking oil dropped by over 66% following the implementation of the Cooking Oil Price Stabilisation Scheme (eCOSS) and Mobile eCOSS, says Datuk Dr Fuziah Salleh.
The Deputy Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister said comparative data for January to April last year and this year showed a downward trend in overall complaints related to the supply of controlled goods.
Apart from hoarding, which recorded the biggest decrease, complaints about a lack of or insufficient supply also fell by 24.47%, while complaints about conditional sales and retailers refusing to sell the product decreased by 6.19% and 1.15%, respectively.
“I was interested to read a consumer’s sharing regarding the supply of subsidised packet cooking oil. Previously they said it was indeed difficult to get this cooking oil. Now wherever you go, the stock is easier to find. This is the reform we want the people to experience.
“For me, the measure of success for a policy is not just in the system or numbers, but when the people themselves begin to feel that supplies are easier to obtain,” she said in a post on her Facebook account yesterday.
Fuziah said the system enabled the ministry to comprehensively monitor the distribution of subsidised packet cooking oil, from the supply chain to consumers.
She said the Mobile eCOSS app also used eKYC technology and MyDigital ID to verify users’ identities, following the restriction of subsidised packet cooking oil purchases to Malaysian citizens from March 1, Bernama reported.
As of July 3, more than 5.2 million Malaysians had registered using the Mobile eCOSS app.
