The price of goods have shot up between 20 to 30 percent after the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) says a recent survey conducted by the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca).

"We found that the price of most goods have gone up 20 to 30 percent compared to prices listed in the guide book (issued by government)," Fomca Deputy President Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman  ( pix below ) said.

He was speaking to reporters after conducting a price survey exercise at the Paradigm shopping mall in Kelana Jaya, Selangor today.

Among the businesses inspected were video retailer Speedy, pharmacy and healthcare outlet Guardian, convenience store MyNews.com and hypermarket Tesco.

One example of an excessive price hike Yusof said he discovered was the price of a bottle of men's deoderant which was supposed to be priced at RM4.44 according to the guide book. However, it was being sold at RM5.35.

While noting this was not an offence, he said consumers could still file a complaint with the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs ministry.

Get approval for service charge

Besides price hikes, Fomca also found that the receipts issued by one of the shops did not show the original price before GST was added and this was against the tax guidelines set by the ministry.

"According the ministry's rules, besides the total with GST added, the receipt must also show the original price before GST was added," Yusof said.

The survey also showed that price tags at counters did not indicate if items being sold were GST exempt or not, he said.

On hotels and restaurants continuing to impose a 10 percent service charge , Yusof said the ministry should issue an official approval notice for businesses with collective agreements to display.

"(Hotels and restaurants) should go to the ministry's office with the relevant documents such as their collective agreement for verification by the ministry.

"Then a notice of service charge being imposed and collected should be issued by the ministry for the business owners to display in their shop," he explained.