SUNGAI PETANI: A total of 105 complaints related to packet cooking oil, involving various offences, have been received by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) Kedah branch, from January to October this year.
Its director Muhammad Nizam Jamaludin said that of these cases, 14 resulted in action under the Control of Supplies Act 1961 and the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.
“Offences related to the Control of Supplies Act 1961 include refusal to sell controlled items, and engaging in wholesale or retail trade, or manufacturing any scheduled goods without a licence,” he said at a press conference, after inspecting the Festive Season Maximum Price Scheme (SHMMP) for Deepavali 2024, at a local supermarket today.
Eight items have been listed for the SHMMP for Deepavali 2024, including imported bone-in mutton, tomatoes, red chillies, whole coconuts, grated coconut, small Indian red onions, large imported red onions, and Australian dhal.
According to Muhammad Nizam, Kedah KPDN has received a total of 1,443 complaints, involving various offences, throughout this year.
He said in addition to complaints regarding cooking oil, the highest number of grievances were related to online transactions (398 cases), pricing issues (397 cases), controlled items (183 cases), misleading services (158 cases), and motor vehicle workshops (82 cases).
“Kedah KPDN also received 25 complaints concerning price increases, and actions have been taken in four cases, under the Control of Supplies Act 1961 and Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011,” he said.
He added that 1,996 inspections have been conducted under Op Tiris 3.0 since January, resulting in 158 cases being acted upon, with total seizures valued at RM3.5 million.
“Starting from Oct 1, state KPDN has been actively conducting inspections and monitoring prices of goods across five categories, namely food and beverages, household necessities, ready-to-eat food and beverages, hairdressing services, and laundry services,” he said.
