PKP Wants Prices Of Tyres And Petroleum Products Reduced

The Kuala Lumpur Consumers Safety Association (PKP) are reproaching dealers, distributors and manufacturers of tyres and petroleum related products for their stance not to reduce prices of their products in light of commodities dropping in value since last year.

In the report by the News Straits Times Online, PKP president Samsudin Mohamad Fauzi claims industry players who had previously attributed the price hike of their products to the increase in petroleum prices failed to react when the opposite occurs, whereby production costs decreased.

He was quoted as saying, "The price of petroleum has dropped drastically from US$150 (RM642) per barrel previously to US$42 (RM180) per barrel currently. That is a very significant drop, but yet we see tyre prices and petroleum related products failing to drop in prices. There is no excuse and I hope those in the industry do not use the drop in value of the ringgit to justify their prices because it is not valid either.”

Citing commodities that went into the production of tyres including rubber, steel, synthetic rubber, and petroleum, all of which saw a fall in prices in the past 12 months, Samsudin added that industry participants had no justification for their reluctance to reduce prices.

"They have only raised the prices when the cost was high. But when the cost has gone down, their prices are not brought down. This is why I reiterate that they are cheating the consumers," said Samsudin. He added that to reduce the cost of living and burden on the rakyat, the cost of transportation needs to be reduced first.

A memorandum will be sent by the PKP to the related associations as well as the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism (KPDNKK)