The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) has detected some 88 violations at various commercial outlets during its inspection campaign during last month, it was announced yesterday.
The inspection campaign, undertaken by the ministry’s consumer affairs sector, covered the entire Doha.
The violations were mostly related to not posting prices and charges for items and services and the inadequate description of some items or displaying them in a dubious manner. Some commercial outlets were issued violation notices for inadequate tagging of their items.
In a statement, the ministry said the number of violations regarding the display and sale of expired items, especially food and cosmetics, had dropped dramatically compared to the previous months.
However, the overall number of recorded violations in July was up compared to June when the number of various violations amounted to 70.
Penalties for the violating outlets ranged from temporary administrative closure of the place and fines ranging from QR6,000 to QR30,000.
The ministry has stepped up its inspections on auto dealers and auto spare-parts outlets to check attempts to circulate counterfeit parts or manipulate prices. During the last month, five consumer violation notices were issued to auto dealers because of unavailability of spare parts, delay of after-sale services and not providing replacement vehicles when the service required for the covered vehicles is delayed.
The largest number of violations issued last month, 31, was for not posting the prices or charges for items and services.
