KUALA BERANG: A chicken trader at a market in Kuala Lumpur is among the first to be fined RM2,500 under the Festive Maximum Price Control Scheme which began on May 20.
Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) Datuk Rosol Wahid said the trader was compounded for selling a whole chicken for RM9, compared to the ceiling price of RM7.50.
"Our officers went to investigate the matter and found the complaints to be true and took action by issuing the trader a fine.
"As of yesterday, three complaints involving chicken prices have been made in Penang and Putrajaya.
"We will continue to improve the monitoring and checking of chicken prices at markets," he said after launching the Festive Maximum Price Control Scheme at Pasaraya Sabasun in Ajil, here.
Rosol said 2,437 business premises comprising 65 wholesale premises and 2,372 retail premises were inspected by KPDNHEP personnel nationwide on the first day of the scheme.
He said another 13 premises were also inspected, including 27 farms, 52 suppliers and 434 retailers selling chicken as of May 18.
"We have issued 386 notices to chicken traders under Section 21 of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.
"Based on an initial investigation, we found that the price increase of chicken was influenced by factors of rising costs by suppliers and farmers. We are probing the matter further," he said.