PRICE TAGGING LAWS MUST BE ENFORCED

The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) calls on the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-Operatives and Consumerism to enforce the Price Control Act 1946 Amendment 1973, Section 8 (1) which requires traders to display price tags on goods that are meant for sale.

Our repeated survey around Penang Island showed that any traders are blatantly flouting the Price Control Act. The results of the survey are as follows:

The main offenders were the stalls where prices of food and drinks sold by stalls had no price list displayed. Sometimes they posted up price lists that are written entirely in Chinese.

Second on the list of offenders were restaurants that did not update their price lists.

Many of the food outlets have their price list located some distance away from where the food is placed. Therefore, it is difficult for a customer to know the price of food placed on his place on his plate and often costing more than his budget.

Generally, consumers are often overcharged in these cases and they have no price list to fall back on to argue about the charges on their bill.

According to the Act, the onus is on the seller to keep the buyers informed of the prices and the lack of enforcement has hindered the effectiveness of the law.

In view of this, CAP calls on the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-Operatives and Consumerism to conduct a nationwide checked and strictly enforce the laws in accordance to Section 8(1) of the Price Control Act 1946 Amendment 1973. The offenders should be booked immediately.

Press Statement, 20 March 2017