Enforcement against Businesses who Raise Prices Using GST Increase as Excuse

23 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what enforcement power is vested with the Government other than to name and make public the egregious businesses who raise prices unjustifiably using GST increase as a cover; and (b) what are the expectations on merchants in order to meet transparency on their pricing and in their communications with consumers.

The Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Low Yen Ling) (for the Minister for Trade and Industry): Mr Speaker, the role of the Committee Against Profiteering (CAP) is to review and investigate feedback on unjustified increases in the prices of essential products and services using the the Goods and Services Tax (GST) increase as an excuse. The CAP will continue to review all feedback received and will engage businesses, where necessary, to address the issue. The CAP is prepared to publicly highlight egregious businesses which persist in GST misrepresentation.

The CAP works with various partners to reach out to businesses to guard against GST profiteering. Businesses are encouraged to be transparent in their communication on price adjustments. The Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) publishes best practices on price display and communication. The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) has recently issued an advisory for businesses which need to adjust their prices, on how they should communicate their reasons for price or fee adjustments to consumers. Our trade association partners have also been guiding their members in clearly communicating any price adjustments. For instance, the Federation of Merchants' Associations Singapore (FMAS) and the Heartland Enterprise Centre Singapore (HECS) have conducted extensive outreach and walkabouts in coffee shops, in Housing and Development Board (HDB) shops and hawker centres to remind their members of the need to be transparent about their pricing.

Consumers can also report potential instances of GST misrepresentation to the CAP via three methods: the CAP's online feedback form, the hotline, or at any of our 112 Community Centres.

Mr Speaker: Ms Foo Mee Har.

Ms Foo Mee Har (West Coast): Thank you, Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of State whether the Government can make available the price transparency of key daily items for consumers' reference. This is to facilitate easy price comparisons and for them to avoid falling prey to unjustified price hikes.

Ms Low Yen Ling: Mr Speaker, I want to thank Ms Foo Mee Har for her supplementary question. I will respond in two ways. One, I want to say that the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) monitors the prices of essential products and services via one of our agencies called the Department of Statistics (DOS). We keep a very close watch on the prices of essential goods through the Consumer Price Index (CPI). We review and share the CPI survey regularly. The CPI is compiled by DOS and measures the average price changes of a fixed basket of consumption goods and services commonly purchased by resident households over time.

Another important thing that is quite different this round as compared to 2007 to 2009 when we last stood up the CAP, is that we have the Price Kaki App. MTI and the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) have been working very closely with CASE, in particular, since a few years ago and especially in the last one year, to further strengthen Price Kaki.

I am happy to share with Ms Foo and Members of the House that today, consumers can use the Price Kaki app, developed by CASE, to compare prices of more than 10,000 supermarket items and more than 37,000 cooked food items from food courts, hawker centres and coffee shops. At the touch of a button, you will be able to see the items within your vicinity and you have choices. This is really what we want: free market competition and for consumers and fellow Singaporeans to have a wide range of choices. The Price Kaki app will allow our fellow Singaporeans to make informed purchasing decisions.

I am also happy to inform Ms Foo that recently, on 1 January this year, CASE added a new function on the app, which allows our consumers to view and compare the unit prices of more than 1,200 grocery items. It is not just the item itself. It is also unit prices. This feature came about because we hear a lot of feedback from fellow Singaporeans, about the need to understand the price changes for a unit of a product. This feature helps the consumer to distinguish and compare the per unit value of pre-packaged products of different brands and similar products of differing quantity, volume or packaging.

MTI and CCCS will continue to work closely with the CASE team to continue to strengthen and enhance the Price Kaki app to empower our fellow Singaporeans to make informed purchasing decisions.