PETALING JAYA: Most business premises were found to be complying with Covid-19 standard operating procedure during lockdown with only a small number of them breaking the rules, the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry found.

       The ministry’s enforcement division said it checked a total of 615,996 premises from May 13 until June 26 and found 574 businesses flouting the SOP.

       “It’s satisfying to see 98.54% of businesses complying with SOP. A total of 1.27% received warnings for non-compliance while only 0.1% of premises were issued compounds,” it said in a statement yesterday.

       Between June 1 and 26, the ministry’s enforcement officers conducted checks on 44,903 premises nationwide and issued compounds amounting to more than RM2.14mil to 388 businesses or business owners who flouted the SOP.

       Among the offences were opening after the permitted hours, workers failing to scan MySejahtera before entering premises, workers failing to wear masks at the premises and not limiting the number of people into the premises at any one time.

       These businesses were issued compounds ranging from RM1,500 to RM10,000.

       The division also received 132 complaints from the public during the same period.

       The ministry is also advised business owners to take every effort to ensure their workers and customers comply with the SOP.

       “Business owners need to be proactive and vigilant in ensuring the SOP is strictly followed to avoid creating new Covid-19 clusters,” the enforcement division added.