The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) has announced that it will continue with its inspection campaigns before and after Eid al-Fitr.
The campaigns will target shops selling Eid accessories, such as men’s and women’s items, adult and children wear, perfumes and accessories, shoes, men's and women's clothing, tailoring shops, and gold and jewellery stores, as well as fruit and vegetable shops, sweet stores, barbershops and beauty salons, car washing centres and shops offering promotions.
This will be done to ensure the compliance of suppliers with their obligations under Law No 8 of 2008 on consumer protection, the MEC has said in a press statement.
The ministry traditionally intensifies its inspection campaigns before and after Eid to monitor markets and commercial activities in a bid to crack down on price manipulation and violations in order to protect consumer rights.
The inspection campaigns come within the framework of the MEC’s Ramadan initiatives under the theme “#Aqal_Min_Al_Wajeb”, Arabic for “#the_least_we_can_do”.
The ministry had announced round-the-clock inspection campaigns before, throughout and after the holy month of Ramadan.
“The campaigns target all commercial activities and sectors across Qatar to ensure the compliance of suppliers with their legal obligations and regulations governing commercial activities in order to prevent violations,” the statement notes.
The ministry has stressed that it will not tolerate any violations of the Consumer Protection Law and its regulations, and will intensify its inspection campaigns to crack down on violations.
It will refer those who violate laws and ministerial decrees to the competent authorities, who will in turn take appropriate action against the perpetrators in order to protect consumer rights.
The MEC had urged merchants and retail outlets to comply with laws and ministerial decisions and offer products and services of high quality to consumers.
It also urged merchants to adhere to the price list and refrain from taking advantage of the holidays to raise prices.
The ministry has urged all consumers to report violations or submit complaints and suggestions through the call centre at 16001, by email to [email protected], through Twitter at MEC_QATAR, via Instagram to MEC_QATAR, and the MEC application of on iPhone and Android devices: MEC_QATAR.
199 fines issued
Inspection campaigns target more than 4,000 shops during holy month, resulting in 199 fines, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce said.
The violations included missing price tags, non-compliance with the vegetable and fruit prices bulletin, offering unlicensed promotions, missing service price list, difference between label price and cashier price, charging a higher commission than advertised in auctions, charging customers more than the advertised price, missing country-of-origin labels, non-compliance with subsidised meat prices and failing to display product descriptions in Arabic.
Violations of Law No 8 of 2008 on consumer protection result in penalties ranging from administrative closure to fines between QR3,000 and QR1mn.
