Just over a week ago it was reported that according to Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Hamzah Zainuddin, only traders who do not believe in God will raise prices of goods. He had said that God never told anyone to raise or lower prices and that only those who do not believe in God will increase their prices. He backed his statement by saying that according to the Quran traders must be fair to consumers so they don’t feel cheated.

What about when consumers feel cheated by the government which also raises prices? The government is also doing business with consumers. It is selling services of various kinds, e.g. for issuing various kinds of documents. Call it ‘fees’ or by whatever name, the consumers are purchasing those services from the government and they are paying a price just the way that they pay for a kilo of rice or sugar.

Did God tell the government to raise prices, for doing so is unfair to consumers the same way that traders are unfair to consumers by raising prices of their goods and services?

Just a few months ago, it cost RM5.00 for one to get an extract of an identity card from the National Registration Department. Now it costs RM50.00, a whopping increase of ten times, or 1,000 percent. Was this because God directed that the cost be increased by leaps and bounds, for no justifiable reason?

It still takes the same number of strokes on the keyboard to key in some data like the name, IC number and address of the subject. The extract is printed on the same JPN.KP12 form. The same office printer is used to print out the document. The salaries of the staff doing the job is the same, or if increased, surely not by leaps and bounds. So, if at all, by how much has the cost actually gone up from the previous RM5.00?

So what is the justification for the ten times or 1,000 percent increase in the fee? By the same standard of ethics the government is applying to say that it is unethical for business people to increase prices, is it ethical for the government to increase the fees for its services at its whims and fancies?

Should the government which sells its services to consumers be exempted from the code of ethics that the government says private businesses must follow?