PPIM urges Malaysian banks to absorb GST cost for MEPS service

The Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) has urged Malaysian banks to absorb the six per cent cost of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) imposed on the Malaysian Electronic Payment System (MEPS) service. PPIM chief activist Datuk Nadzim Johan said customers using the MEPS for withdrawals at ATMs would be levied a RM1 charge and the GST of six cents. "Banks should not be imposing the GST for the MEPS service. They should provide an exemption and absorb the six per cent as customers are already being charged RM1 for each withdrawal at the ATM," he added. Speaking to Bernama, he also cited as an example, Singaporean banks which did not impose the GST for the MEPS in an effort to support the government. The Customs Department had earlier announced that withdrawals at the branches of a same bank would not incur any GST, while only the MEPS service would be subject to it, and that too on the RM1 and not the amount of money withdrawn. Nadzim called on customers to boycott traders who took advantage of the GST implementation to rake in profits.