Prepaid telephone top-up vouchers will revert back to the pre-April 1 prices on May 1, said Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan.

This follows his meeting with four chief executive officers of four network providers today.

He said that the four companies had committed to reverting to old prices, but needed a month to correct the situation.

"I never said that there would be no GST for top-ups. But price of top-ups should remain the same since there is no longer the sales and services tax (SST).

"So for RM10 top-ups, consumers will pay RM9.43 plus RM0.57 GST.

"We have also asked the telcos to give bonus airtime of RM0.57 or more so that consumers will enjoy RM10 worth of airtime and SMSes," he told reporters in Shah Alam today.

For now, consumers will still enjoy bonus airtime of between RM1.20 to RM1.30 during the transition period.

Ahmad ( left ) said the meeting with network providers was held following a large number of complaints made about the decision to charge RM0.60 more for a RM10 top-up voucher.

He added that a formal announcement would be made by the Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek soon.

"I was not at the cabinet meeting, so let the communications minister announce the cabinet's decision.

"But according to sources, there is not much difference (from what we discussed with the network providers)," he said.

Service charge confusion

Following the implementation of GST on April 1, consumers balked at telcos charging an extra six percent as the government had promised prepaid rates would remain the same with GST replacing the earlier six percent sales tax that has since been abolished.

Meanwhile, Ahmad said consumers had the right to give any amount of tips based on the level of service provided at restaurants and hotels.

"If you have to wait one hour for a plate of char kuey teow and the place is dirty, why must one pay a 10 percent service charge," he asked.

When asked whether the 10 percent service charge should be renamed ‘Tips’, Ahmad said  the tipping culture was not wanted here as it was not a good one.

He also said the rakyat should not be confused between the GST and service charge as the latter was taken by hotels and restaurants while the government only took the GST.

He, therefore, expressed hope that the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumer Affairs Ministry (KPDNKK) would come out with a clear guideline on the matter.

Ahmad had last month said the 10 percent service charge imposed by hotels and restaurants need not be paid after the GST was implemented.

He said the proposal to rename the service tax to hotel or restaurant ‘charges’ should be implemented immediately so that consumers would not confuse it with the GST.