​During inspection campaigns to ensure the compliance of suppliers (retail outlets) with law number 8 of 2008 on consumer protectionMinistry of Economy and Commerce cracks down on 30 violations in June
 
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce intensified its inspection campaigns in June 2018 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 inspection campaigns resulted in cracking down on 30 violations. Violations included misleading or false product descriptions and advertising, failing to issue invoices in Arabic, failing to display prices, failing to comply with the mandatory bulletin of vegetables and fruits prices, failing to clearly specify the data relating to the displayed product, charging consumers higher than the advertised price, and increase in price of locally processed Australian meat.
The penalties included administrative closures and fines ranging between QR 5,000 and QR 30,000 in line with the applicable consumer protection laws. The following is a breakdown of the type and number of violations registered in June 2018:
 ViolationNumberFailing to issue invoices in Arabic5Failing to clearly display service data, characteristics and prices3Failing to comply with the mandatory price bulletin of vegetables and fruits3Failing to use Arabic in data and advertisements related to offered goods1Failing to display all product-related data1Failing to display price1Lack of weighing scale in the bakery for the production of local bread1Failing to display the discount license in a visible place on the store’s front during the discount period2Charging consumers higher than the advertised price3Offering discounts without obtaining a permit from competent department1Increase in price of locally processed Australian meat2False or misleading product description, advertising or labels6Expired car tire products1Total30
 
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 competent authorities that will in turn take appropriate action against perpetrators in order to protect consumer rights.
The Ministry urged all consumers to report violations through the following channels:
-Call centre: 16001
– Email: info@mec.gov.qa
– The accounts of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce on social networks
         – Twitter MEC_QATAR
         – Instagram MEC_QATAR
– The App of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce on iPhone and Android devices MEC_QATAR