SEREMBAN, Feb 24 — Business premises that have a licence to sell one-kilogramme packets of cooking oil in Negeri Sembilan are asked to provide a logbook for manual purchases, especially for senior citizens who do not have the Cooking Oil Price Stabilisation Scheme (eCOSS) application.
Negeri Sembilan Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) director, Muhammad Zahir Mazlan said a letter on the matter had been distributed to all premises in the state on Dec 16 before the full implementation takes effect on March 1.
He said his party had previously actively advocated the use of the application and requested cooperation from all premises to implement the use of eCOSS to curb leakage.
“Announcements and notifications to all traders including supermarkets are required to prepare a logbook to record transactions manually.
“Consumers need to show their identification cards, then fill out a logbook for each purchase of packet cooking oil and at the same time, KPDN advises users to download the eCOSS application to facilitate the purchase of packet cooking oil in the future,” he told Bernama today.
Muhammad Zahir said that as of Feb 11, a total of 121,603 users in the state were registered with eCOSS and this is expected to increase in the future.
He said that if users found that traders did not provide a logbook or refused to sell packet cooking oil, they could file a complaint with KPDN via Whatsapp 0198488000 or email [email protected] and via the ezAdu Apps.
Meanwhile, Bernama’s observations at business premises and convenience stores around Seremban found that there were still users, especially the elderly, who were unable to buy packet cooking oil because they did not have an eCOSS account.
In fact, the premises also did not provide a logbook to allow transactions to be carried out manually, with the excuse that no information was received from the management.
A senior citizen who wanted to be identified as Tan, 65, said he did not have a smartphone to download the application, thus preventing him from buying packet oil.
“I hope the shop can provide other alternatives so that senior citizens like me can buy without having to scan the QR code,” he said.
The same fate also befell Nancy, 67, who had to ask her daughter for help to buy the packet oil because she did not know about the application.
The eCOSS application is a digital platform introduced to record and manage the sale of subsidised one-kilogramme packet cooking oil, with the aim of curbing leakage and ensuring that supplies reach eligible consumers. —- Bernama
