The Ministry of Economy and Commerce intensified its inspection campaigns last month to ensure the compliance of suppliers (retail outlets) with Law Number (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 nationwide campaign by the Ministry’s inspectors resulted in 112 fines. Violations included missing price tags for products and services; false or misleading product descriptions; issuing incomplete invoices; failure to display prices in Arabic; failing to display all data pertaining to the service; failing to comply with the declared bulletin of vegetables and fruits prices; and failing to issue invoices.
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 1,051 complaints and took the steps 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.
The Ministry said it will refer those who violate laws and ministerial decrees to authorities that will in turn take action against perpetrators in order to protect consumer rights.
The MEC has urged all customers to report any violations to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department through the following channels: Hotline: 16001, e-mail: [email protected], Twitter: @MEC_Qatar, Instagram: MEC_Qatar, MEC mobile app for Android and IOS: MEC_Qatar
