Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry’s Johor director Lilis Saslinda Pornomo (centre) speaking to stall operators during her walkabout at the Angsana Mall Ramadan bazaar in Johor Baru.
JOHOR BARU: The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry has conducted checks at 463 Ramadan stalls and business premises in Johor in the first two weeks of the fasting month.
Its state director Lilis Saslinda Pornomo said active checks began on March 12 to monitor the price of items sold by the bazaar stalls as well as to focus on the supply of items in the market, correct usage of weighing scales and the sale of counterfeit items.
"Other than Ramadan and Hari Raya Aidilfitri bazaars, we also checked wet markets, shopping centres, suppliers and sundry shops.
"Only two compounds have been issued under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 thus far against traders who failed to clearly display their prices," she said after having a walkabout at the Angsana Mall Ramadan bazaar here on Sunday (March 24) evening.
She added that from Jan 1 until March 23, a total of 16,390 checks were conducted by the ministry throughout Johor, where 268 of them were found to have committed various offences, amounting to RM246,220 in court-ordered fines.
At the same time, RM47,800 worth of compounds were handed out by the ministry to errant businesses and RM16.4mil worth of items were confiscated in the process.
"During the same period, 37 notices were handed out to premises to request more information from them regarding their charges and prices.
"When we receive a consumer complaint against a business, we usually hand them a notice to give them a chance to provide the necessary information before deciding on the next course of action," Lilis explained.
Consumers can channel their complaints to the ministry via its eight offices in Johor, Ez ADU smartphone application, email e-aduan@kpdn.gov.my, WhatsApp to 019-279 4317 or by calling its call centre at 1800-886-800.
