CAP president Mohideen Abdul Kader said the sale of subsidised goods could be monitored through a system that could track the buyers.

“With an e-ration card, it is possible to identify the person buying the cooking oil, the quantity and the outlet from which it is bought,” he told FMT.

The card would be traceable, he said, adding that it was difficult to track the distribution and sale of subsidised cooking oil with the current system.

He was commenting on a news report that said subsidised cooking oil in polybags was being smuggled from Kelantan to parts of southern Thailand such as Sungai Golok, Weng and Sungai Padi.

The report said the smuggled 1kg polybags of cooking oil cost about 55 baht (RM7) in Thailand, where the price of bottled cooking oil is about 77 baht per kilo.

Malaysia Consumers Movement deputy president Beninder Singh said it was difficult to control the purchase of subsidised cooking oil at retail outlets because of the limited number of monitoring officers from the domestic trade and consumer affairs ministry.

“The government can consider issuing food stamps or coupons to targeted groups for the purchase of cooking oil as well as other subsidised goods,” he said.

This would make it easier to audit the sale and control leakage.

The government stopped subsidising bottled cooking oil on July 1. However, oil sold in 1kg polybags is still subsidised.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said this was to prevent leakage and to ensure that the RM4 billion subsidy for cooking oil benefit targeted consumers.