Alias speaking to the press on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) related offences committed by some traders. — Bernama photo
PUTRAJAYA: A restaurant in Subang Jaya, Selangor is facing court action for raising the price of clams from RM3 a plate to RM7.50 for half plate, a five-fold increase on the excuse of imposing the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry (KPDNKK) secretary-general Datuk Seri Alias Ahmad said the case was one of 18 investigated under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.
He said the case would be sent to the public prosecutor next week.
According to him, nine cases were identified in Melaka, Penang (three), Kuala Lumpur (three), and Putrajaya (one).
“The three cases in Kuala Lumpur involved traders failing to reply to show- cause notices. In Putrajaya, a trader was found raising the price of lady’s fingers from RM12.50 to RM18.50 per kilogramme.
“In Melaka, six cases involved traders raising the price of refrigerators from RM2,999 to RM3,129 after the GST was implemented,” he told a media conference here yesterday.
Alias said the individuals responsible face a fine of RM100,000 or three years’ jail or both while the company could be fined RM500,000, if found guilty.
On the service charge (imposed by hotels and restaurants), he said KPDNKK together with the Malaysian Competition Commission (MyCC) would be starting investigations under the Competition Act to verify if there were elements of collusion among companies to set the service charge rate.
“If there is collusion among the associations or traders for example on the 10 per cent service charge, they are subject to the Competition Act.
“They should be free to fix the charge at below the maximum of 10 per cent,” he said.
He said upon conviction, the company responsible could be fined a maximum of 10 per cent of their entire global earnings.
Meanwhile, Alias said there would be a meeting with hotel and restaurant associations to resolve the matter this week and a report would be submitted to the Cabinet by the end of the month.
KPDNKK had also issued 61 notices on service charge after inspecting 698 business premises from April 8 to 14, he added. — Bernama