Ministry issues notice to stall operator over RM1,260 bill

JOHOR BARU: The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry has issued a notice to a seafood stall operator accused of charging a customer an exorbitant price for a family meal recently.

The ministry’s Johor director Lilis Saslinda Pornomo said the notice was issued on Thursday (Oct 5) evening under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act 1999 for misleading pricing; and Section 21 of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 that requires a stall operator to provide information for calculation to determine whether or not there was profiteering in the incident.

“The trader was given four days to respond by providing justification and detailed information… to verify the claim made by the customer,” she said when contacted.

Meanwhile, Lilis Saslinda denied that the stall was ordered to cease operations, adding that the ministry was still investigating.

“(As to) why the trader (is) still operating… we have no authority in this area. I urge the public not to make inaccurate statements that could tarnish the image of the ministry,” she added.

On Tuesday (Oct 3), a 26sec video and a photo of a receipt of the meal totalling RM1,260 were posted on an Instagram account belonging to one Nora’ Asikin Rahmat or Ekin, who claimed that the total cost of the meal was too high.

Ekin is the wife of singer and radio announcer Asmawi Ani, popularly known as Mawi.

On Thursday, mStar reported that Ekin had denied the stall operator’s claim that she went to the eatery with nearly 20 people on Saturday (Sept 30).

According to Ekin, there were 16 in her group, four of them children and one a baby.

She also disputed the stall operator’s explanation of the charges in a social media video, uploaded in response to her original post. – Bernama