The inspection campaign held by a representatives from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce in September resulted in the seizure and issuance of 64 violations.
The ministry announced the violations include the non-compliance with prices of vegetables and fruits bulletin, non-display of product and service prices, non-display in Arabic, non-issuance of receipts in Arabic, increasing prices without prior approvals from concerned authorities, offering discounts without proper required approvals and describing, advertising, displaying products with false or deceiving information.
The penalties included administrative closure and financial fines which vary between QR 5,000 and QR 30,000 according to the laws and decisions governing the work of consumer protection departments. The ministry revealed it received 1,061 complaints in September, in which the necessary measures were taken to resolve them.
The intensive inspections are part of the Ministry’s keenness to regulate and monitor the markets and commercial activities in the country with the aim of controlling prices and detecting violations to protect consumer rights to monitor if suppliers were abiding by the obligations stipulated by Law No. (8) of 2008 on consumer protection.
The Ministry confirmed it will be firm against all those negligent and not complying with the consumer protection law and its executive regulations. It also confirmed it will intensify its inspection campaigns to control such practices and refer all violators to the concerned entities to take the appropriate measures against them to protect the consumer.
The Ministry called on all consumers to report any violations to the Ministry.
