HE Sheikh Jassim bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, Minister of Business and Trade, and visiting French trade minister Nicole Bricq, presided on Tuesday 12/03/2013 over the formal launch of the e-services of the Ministry of Business and Trade, in the presence of a French business delegation, members of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and several key Qatari businessmen.
Highlighting the features of the new smart applications, the Minister said that the public would now have easy access to information on daily prices of commodities and a better way to register complaints. He added that the ministry prepared also to upgrade it in the next quarter to include in it other services of the ministry: “More innovations will be introduced within the next quarter,” he said.
HE stated that the e-service will prove an effective means of communication between the people and the ministry, and will be a transparent system that seeks to boost competition and offer better services.
HE added that the ministry was concerned about consumers, their rights, complaints and comments, and that the e-service would also help traders improve their operations and services.
For her side, Mrs. Meshael Al Hammadi, director of information systems at the ministry, stated that there is a trained team at the CPD to deal with consumer complaints received through the e-service, download them and process them for action.
Using smartphones, consumers can now access an innovative e-service of the trade ministry in both Arabic and English languages, to compare prices of different items of daily use, including foodstuff, at various shopping complexes and instantly lodge a complaint with the consumer rights’ watchdog if they discover any violation.
Complainants can also click photographs of items with their phones if they are overpriced or past their expiry date, or if any other violation is detected, and forward the images to the Consumer Protection Department (CPD) of the trade ministry to support their complaint and seek punitive action. Complaints can be lodged in Arabic or English by citizens as well as expatriates.