KPDNHEP TO STUDY FEASIBILITY OF PRICE INCREASE FOR BOTTLED COOKING OIL

20 JAN 2021

GEORGE TOWN: The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (KPDNHEP) will look into the price increase of the 5kg bottled cooking oil before determining if it is equitable.

Penang KPDNHEP director, Mohd Ridzuan Ab Ghapar yesterday said the authority had issued notices to traders and producers under Section 21 of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 to collect data on the records of prices of cooking oil for the past two years.

He said that one of the factors for the increased price of cooking oil might be the global price increase of palm oil.

“As the price of the 5kg bottle of cooking oil is not controlled by the government, we will study if the price increase is reasonable,” he told reporters after conducting a random spot check of prices of goods at a hypermarket in Jelutong yesterday.

He said that currently, the 5kg bottle of cooking oil was priced at around RM30 and the recent highest increase of price was about RM2, although the average price increase was usually around 50 sen.

Mohd Ridzuan was responding to complaints received last week the price increase of the bottled cooking oil.

He also urged traders to self-regulate their flow of supply of the 1kg packets of cooking oil. He said the purchase of the 1kg packets of cooking oil, the price of which was regulated, should be limited to between two and five packets per customer. -Bernama