KOTA KINABALU: PKR Inanam assemblyman Dr Roland Chia urged the nation’s telecommunication companies to help deter vendors from wrongfully incurring additional telecommunication service charges on consumers.
“Legal action must be taken if they continue to charge extra for postpaid and prepaid telecommunication services, as the six per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) is meant to replace the previous Sales Service Tax (SST) of 10 per cent,” stressed Chia.
“If the top-up is RM10 before 1 April, then after 1 April it should remain the same or even less,” added Chia, who made the call after receiving complaints from his constituents in Inanam, Kolombong, Menggatal and Telipok.
A wave of disgruntled consumers surged on April 1, after being charged an extra six percent GST when purchasing prepaid top-ups despite the reassurance from the government that it would be exempted from the new tax system.
Individuals found guilty under the Anti-Profiteering Act 2010 can be fined up to RM100,000 or sentenced to three years’ jail, or both, while companies can be fined up to RM500,000 for the first offence, and RM1 million for subsequent offences.