The Ministry of Economy and Commerce intensified its inspection campaigns in May to ensure the compliance of suppliers (retail outlets) with law No. 8 of 2008 on consumer protection. The inspection campaigns come within the framework of the Ministry’s efforts to monitor markets and commercial activities in a bid to crack down on price manipulation and to protect consumer rights. The nation-wide campaign by inspectors found 70 violations.
Violations included false or misleading product descriptions and advertising; missing price tags for products and services; selling expired products; charging customers more than the advertised price; announcing promotional offers without obtaining a licence from the competent department; and failing to display product descriptions and ads in Arabic.
The penalties resulted in administrative closures as well as fines ranging between QR5,000 and QR30,000 in line with the applicable consumer protection laws. The Ministry also processed 1,142 complaints and took the necessary measures to resolve them.
The ministry stressed that it will not tolerate any violations of the Consumer Protection Law and its regulations, and will intensify its inspection campaigns to crackdown on violations.
