PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has directed Communication and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek to take charge of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) confusion over mobile phone prepaid cards.
"@shaberyc Pls take charge of the topup issue. Mulai skrg, sebarang pengumuman kpd rkyt hanya boleh dibuat oleh Menteri KKMM sahaja (@shaberyc please take charge of the topup issue. (From now on, any announcement to the public can only be made by the Communication and Multimedia Minister)," Najib tweeted Friday afternoon.
"@NajibRazak Yes Sir, saya akan jumpa dgn semua pihak utk dapatkan yg terbaik bagi rakyat dan negara (Yes Sir, I will meet with all parties to find the best solution for the public and country)," Shabery replied shortly after.
On Wednesday, Customs Department director-general Datuk Seri Khazali Ahmad announced that the telcos had been directed to revert the prices to pre-GST rates which were at the time “tax-inclusive”.
A few hours later, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) responded that it was “near impossible” to make the change in two days due to “systems reconfiguration issues”.
At present, the Customs Department has indefinitely postponed its directive that prepaid cards revert to pre-Goods and Services Tax (GST) prices.