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KUALA BERANG: Social media may be abuzz with unease over an increase in the price of cooking oil, but until yesterday, only three official complaints have been received.
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Rosol Wahid said two of the complaints were from Johor and the third was from Putrajaya.
Nonetheless, he said, the ministry will not take online complaints lightly and would conduct investigations to determine if there is evidence of profiteering.
There have been complaints that cooking oil is now selling at RM25 to RM28 for a 5kg bottle compared with RM19 to RM22 previously.
Notices under Section 21 of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 have been issued to six traders, Rosol told reporters after handing over cash contributions of RM500 each to 119 people, including traders who were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Until now, he said, the prices of only a few brands of cooking oil in 5kg bottles have been raised and these were only at certain locations.
“Many other brands are still being sold at regular prices,” said Rosol, who is also Hulu Terengganu MP.
There are currently no plans to impose price control on cooking oil sold in quantities larger than those in 1kg polybags for which the price has been fixed at RM2.50 each, adding that this is to help the less well-to-do, Bernama reported.
The global price for raw palm oil has experienced a resurgence since June last year, he said. “It is therefore not impossible that this will have an impact on the price of cooking oil.”
