Mobile prepaid cards may revert to pre-GST prices, says Shabery
BY ANISAH SHUKRY
Published: 4 May 2015 9:53 PM
Multimedia and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek says he will accept the people's wish not to be charged GST on their purchase of mobile prepaid cards and negotiate with telcos on removing the tax that is currently imposed. – The Malaysian Insider pic, May 4, 2015.Multimedia and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said tonight that he has decided mobile prepaid cards should revert to the old, pre-goods and services tax (GST) prices as soon as possible.
He said Malaysians had informed him they wanted to pay RM10 for mobile prepaid cards and receive RM10 worth of mobile services value, so he would ensure that this would become a reality.
“The rakyat want to purchase RM10 worth of prepaid credit, and they want to get airtime worth RM10. That’s what the people want.
"That’s why I have made the decision that if this is what the rakyat want, then that is my decision,” he said during an interview with national broadcasting station RTM1.
“I think it will be a battle to make sure that it happens. It will not be impossible. In a few more days, I will call all the CEOs of the telcos. We will find a mechanism.”
He said once an agreement has been reached with the telcos, he would present it to the Cabinet and obtain their greenlight before implementing the new price system as soon as possible.
Shabery said that the confusion over the prices began because telcos had originally believed that once the GST was enforced, they could add the 6% tax to the price of the mobile prepaid cards.
“But many were unhappy with this, and this affected students, the people from the kampong, and the likes,” he said,
He said he had also asked the Customs Department what it had meant when it announced last Wednesday that prices for prepaid reload cards would revert to pre-GST prices.
“The customs official told me that it meant if a reload card cost RM10, then the customer will pay RM10. But once they activate the card, the 6% tax will be deducted from their airtime. That means they will get RM9.43 worth of airtime,” he said.
But he said after a survey was carried out to find out whether Malaysians preferred to pay either RM10.60 for RM10 airtime, or pay RM10 for RM9.43 airtime, they said they wanted to pay RM10 and receive RM10 worth of airtime.
“I am pro-rakyat. So I must do what the rakyat wants… And this is the minister’s decision. So, God willing, it will be carried out,” said Shabery.
Confusion over the pricing of mobile prepaid cards following the implementation of GST has been one of the biggest problems to arise since the consumption tax was enforced on April 1.
The GST was supposed to have replaced the SST of the same amount for mobile prepaid reload cards, but still saw complaints from consumers on the first day of the tax about higher priced reloads.
Since then there appeared to be conflicting statements by Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan and the Customs Department, leading Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to instruct Shabery via Twitter to handle the matter.
“@shaberyc Pls take charge of the topup issue. Mulai skrg, sebarang pengumuman kpd rkyt hanya boleh dibuat oleh Menteri KKMM sahaja," (@shaberyc Pls take charge of the topup issue. From now on, any announcement to the public can only be made by the multimedia and communications minister only.) Najib had tweeted at his official handle, @NajibRazak recently. – May 4, 2015
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