Fredeck (right) showing the expired M-YES approval which led to the seizure of the irons and blenders.
PUTATAN: Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism (KPDNKK) Sabah made several seizures of items from a store here for holding sales that did not have the approval from the ministry.
The KPDNKK Sabah enforcement team, headed by deputy enforcement chief, Fredeck Kantod, confiscated five irons and two blenders that were placed on sale at the store during an operation dubbed ‘Ops Catut’ at shops near One Place Mall in Putatan yesterday.
Fredeck said the store has infringed on Section 3 (2) of the Trade Descriptions Act, adding that businesses were only allowed to have five sales in a year, of which three are gazetted, namely the GP Sale, Mega Sale Carnival and Malaysia Year End Sale (M-YES) that are held for a period of up to three months.
Businesses are allowed to have two cheap sales of their own of not more than 30 days each, provided that they obtain approval from the ministry 14 days prior to the sale.
The electronics shop in Putatan was only permitted to conduct cheap sales for M-YES from November 11, 2014 to January 4, 2015, which meant that it has infringed on the Trade Descriptions Act for offering cheap sales beyond the stipulated period. Fredeck said further investigation would be carried out on the electronics centre.
Fredeck informed that ‘Ops Catut’ was carried out in preparation for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) that will come into force on April 1 this year.
He said the operation differed from previous operations like Ops Harga, because Ops Catut was more on auditing and checking a company’s business records to determine the costing and profit margins of their products.
KPDNKK is also monitoring for any price hike of goods in the market following the price reduction of petrol and diesel on January 1 this year and the floods that affected several areas in Sabah recently.
The operation was a measure undertaken by the ministry to ensure actions were taken on businesses who take the opportunity to reap unreasonably high profit margin during the implementation of GST.
KPDNKK also seized an electronic weighing scale from a jewellery store as the verification date on the scale, to ensure the accuracy of its calibration, had expired since June 4 last year.
Fredeck said KPDNKK would issue warnings to businesses to obtain verification for their weighing scales if it has not more than 14 days left before expiry. The verification is only valid for a year before the weighing scales are required to be recalibrated.
In this case though, the KPDNKK enforcement personnel seized the weighing scale for further investigation as the store has committed violation under Section 14 of the Weights and Measures Act 1972.
KPDNKK also seized 30 pieces of head scarves from a store for violation of Section 10 of the Consumer Protection Act 1999.
“The store had attached two prices on the same product, so we seized the head scarves,” he said.
A sundry shop was also given a warning by KPDNKK Sabah for not displaying price tags properly.
Fredeck said the ministry has organized talks on GST in collaboration with the Customs Department for the public at all levels, including associations, shop operators and hawkers.
“The people have the perception that GST will cause a price hike of goods. Ops Catut can change the perception of the public as well as businesses on that issue, and through the operation, we can also determine the average (profit) margin of businesses,” he said.
Fredeck also urged the public to inform KPDNKK of any unethical businesses practices, including businesses that increase the prices of their products and services without valid reasons.
To make a complaint, email to [email protected], call KPDNKK Sabah at 088-484500 or the toll free number at 1-800-886-800, SMS to 15888 and type “KPDNKK ADUAN <complaint details>, or visit any KPDNKK office nearby.