Foreigners buying RON95: Ministry studying ways to plug loopholes

 

Owners of Singapore-registered vehicles seen refuelling their cars at petrol stations in Johor Bahru recently. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: The domestic trade and consumer affairs ministry is looking into ways to improve the Supply Control Act 1961 in a move to plug loopholes in the sale of subsidised RON95 petrol to foreign-registered vehicles.

Deputy minister Rosol Wahid said the move was to tighten enforcement including a proposal to impose action on the individuals involved.

“We are now studying the matter and had a meeting on Thursday to strengthen the Control of Supplies Act to ensure action may be taken against those involved,” he said when met by reporters before the launch of a programme organised by the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) at the Ramadan Bazaar TLK site in Taman Tasik Permaisuri, Cheras, yesterday.

At present, action can only be taken against petrol station operators and not individual foreigners who fill up their foreign-registered vehicles with subsidised RON95 petrol.

Meanwhile, Rosol said enforcement investigations revealed that chicken traders who were issued compounds refused to disclose the wholesalers who supplied chickens to them as they claimed to have been warned not to lodge a complaint with the ministry.

“When we asked why they did not want to reveal (the source of supply), they (traders) said they were given a warning that if they do, they will not be getting chicken supply anymore. That is the information we got, so this is something that cannot be allowed and we are investigating the matter thoroughly,” he said.

Meanwhile, in conjunction with SSM’s anniversary, a discount of up to 90% has been given to companies that were compounded and this initiative ends on June 30. - FMT