Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan’s call to act against unscrupulous traders who refuse to lower the prices after GST implementation should start with the prime minister and Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), said DAP.

“I welcome his announcement wholeheartedly, but in order to show his seriousness in his words, I challenge him to take action against TNB and Najib for refusing to lower the electricity tariff even though the international crude oil price has plummeted recently,” DAP’s Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching noted.

Teo ( left ) said the government hiked electricity tariffs by 16 percent last January year due to the then high international crude oil price.

However, there is no sign that TNB tariffs would be lowered even though world oil prices have dropped dramatically over the past months.

Teo said the benchmark coal price embedded in January 2014 electricity tariff was RM275 per metric tonne (coal cost: US$87.5 per metric tonne at RM3.14/US$).

“In December 2014, the effective coal price was 21 percent lower at RM217 per metric tonne (coal cost: US$62 per metric tonne at RM3.50/US$).

“UOB Kay Hian Research estimates that TNB could save RM424 million for the first six months of 2015,” she said in a statement today.

Hong Leong Investment Bank Research, on the other hand, believes that TNB could save some RM310 million in fuel costs for the first half of this year and RM703 million in 2015, said Teo.

'TNB could save RM667.8mil in costs'

The research house also estimates TNB could save RM667.8 million in costs or 13.8 percent of its operations in FY14 given the lower coal price of below US$65 per metric tonne.

Yesterday Bernama reported Ahmad saying unscrupulous traders who refused to lower the prices of certain clusters of goods after the tax regime implementation on April 1 could also be categorised as economic saboteurs , and actions could be taken against them under the Price Control Act and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.

The price of petrol fell throughout January, but critics such as PKR MP Rafizi Ramli ( left ) slammed the government for waiting till the end of the month to review the price from RM1.91 to February’s RM1.70 , in effect profiteering in a windfall from “ hidden tax ” at the expense of the paying public.

Meanwhile, Teo pointed out that after the crude oil price fell last year, the Singapore government had announced an 8 percent reduction in electricity tariff on Jan 1 this year, while Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem announced on Nov 20 last year the reduction of electricity tariff by 40 percent.

“Being a beneficiary of lower coal price, why didn’t TNB follow their steps, especially when its net profit for the first quarter - ended Nov 30, 2014 - rose 34.3 percent year-on-year to RM2.35 billion?

“So I urge Ahmad Maslan, instead of threatening to take harsh action against unscrupulous traders, he should first take (a stand) against TNB and the BN government who have refused to lower the electricity tariff,” she reiterated.