Not In Accordance With Highest Retail Price, Police Investigate Trader In NTB Selling MinyaKita For IDR 207,000 Per Box

Archive. A trader displays Minyakita cooking oil at Kebayoran Lama Market, Jakarta, Thursday, August 25, 2024. (ANTARA PHOTO-Hafidz Mubarak A)

JAKARTA - The West Nusa Tenggara Regional Police (NTB Police) are investigating information about the sale of MinyaKita brand cooking oil for IDR 207,000 per box containing 12 pieces, each weighing 1 liter.

"So, as soon as we received this information, we immediately took action," said the Director of Special Criminal Investigation at the NTB Regional Police, Senior Commissioner Fx. Endriadi, in Mataram on Wednesday, as quoted by Antara.

He explained that the sale of a box of MinyaKita for IDR 207,000 exceeded the highest retail price (HET).

The sale above the HET stemmed from public complaints. One distributor in Ampenan, Mataram City, was reportedly selling it for IDR 207,000 per box.

The Head of the NTB Provincial Trade Office, Jamaludin Malady, confirmed that he had received information about MinyaKita being sold above the HET.

"Yes, it's true. That's what's happening in the field," said Jamaludin.

He explained that the distributor was selling MinyaKita above the HET because it wasn't a Bulog partner.

"This is what happens (sales above the HET), except for Bulog partners. If you buy from Bulog partners, you can't go above the HET. If caught, the company's partnership can be revoked," he said.

The same thing happens in traditional markets. The Trade Office often finds some sellers selling cooking oil above the set price. They argue that they want to profit above the HET.

To stabilize market prices, Jamaludin mentioned the government's upcoming plans to conduct market operations.

"This market operation is also our way of monitoring sales from upstream to downstream. Because the HET for MinyaKita is IDR 15,700," he said.

Another effort is the government encouraging the formation of a task force specifically to oversee cooking oil sales or expanding the reach of the integrated rice price control task force.

In addition to rice and cooking oil, the government is also working to ensure that the sale of 3-kilogram LPG cylinders falls under the supervision of the integrated task force. This is evident in the continued massive sales of this gas cylinder, far above the highest retail price (HET) of IDR 18,000.

"This is especially true on Sumbawa Island. Many people have reported to us complaining about buying it at IDR 35,000 to IDR 40,000. This is far below the IDR 18,000 HET," he said.