Last May, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry carried out extensive inspection campaigns to monitor the extent to which suppliers (retail outlets) comply with their obligations stipulated in the laws and Ministerial decisions on consumer protection, within the framework of the Ministry’s keen efforts to monitor markets and commercial activities across Qatar, in a bid to control prices and uncover violations so as to protect consumer rights.
The inspection campaigns resulted in releasing (188) different violations that included: failure to guarantee that the performed service during a period of time is commensurate with the nature of that service, to refund the amount paid by the recipient of the service, or to perform it again in an appropriate manner; making promotional offers without obtaining the required licensing from the competent department; describing or advertising the commodity in a manner that includes deceptive information; failure to write all the explanatory information about the displayed commodity; failure to comply with the mandatory price bulletin of vegetables and fruits; and failure to announce prices, and charging prices higher than those announced.
Penalties imposed on retail outlets included administrative closures and fines ranging between QAR 5,000 and QAR 30,000, as per the laws and decisions regulating the work of the Consumer Protection Department.
The authorities concerned with consumer protection at the Ministry received a number of complaints last May. They were dealt with, and necessary measures to resolve them were taken.
In this regard, the Ministry stressed that it would not tolerate any negligence in terms of meeting obligations stipulated in law No. (8) of 2008 on Consumer Protection and its executive bylaws.
The Ministry is working to intensify its inspection campaigns to control violating practices, and to refer violators of laws and Ministerial decisions to the competent authorities to the needed due measures.
Source: Ministry of Commerce and Industry