The Consumer Protection Department at the Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) maintained a strong communication line with the public during 2015 while addressing consumer rights violations at different commercial outlets in Qatar.

Local Arabic daily Arrayah reported that the department registered 537 consumer violations last year, with 48 of them resulting in the administrative closure of the commercial outlets for different periods of time. The most prominent among these were the closure of the showrooms of some major car distributors for periods that extended to a month.

According to the MEC, the violations cited against such dealers included selling new vehicles which had undergone some body repair and repaint. The distributors were found to be selling these vehicles without informing the customers and so the department deemed them as a fraudulent practice.

As part of the remedial measures, the dealers were asked to compensate the affected customers and settle the issue to their satisfaction. However, the move was not accepted wholeheartedly by a majority of the car dealers in the country who saw the closure of their offices and showrooms as harmful to their business and they termed the step as one that "undermined the confidence of their customers".

They also claimed that such issues were minor things that could be settled using a variety of different measures other than the closure.

Besides, traders were obliged to publish the violations as a paid advertisement in two local dailies. The violations were also posted on the MEC website.

Violations of eateries and their closures in particular have been published regularly on the MEC website with the name and location of the outlet.

A landmark achievement of MEC, hailed by consumers, was freeing up the warranty conditions of new vehicles. Earlier it was mandatory for vehicle owners to have all maintenance works done at the dealers' workshops for them to be eligible for manufacturer's warranty.

However, the department allowed vehicle owners to get all repair works, including the periodical services, at workshops of their choice while retaining their right to warranty. Dealers were asked to modify and amend their warranty booklets and documents to comply with this rule.

The department also kept a close watch and exercised tight control on local retailers, especially during the time of offering discounts, sales and promotions to guarantee that they were providing true value to the customers.

A number of violations were registered in this respect with the permit for promotions and sales cancelled. In one instance, a company was obliged to withdraw the prizes it gave at a promotion draw and re-run the process.

The MEC, in association with the distributors, also recalled a large number of vehicles of different makes for free repair or replacement of defective parts over the last year.

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