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The Ministry of Economy and Commerce has carried out intensive inspection campaigns during the month of November 2016 to monitor the compliance of the suppliers with the obligations stipulated by law No. 8 of 2008 on Consumer Protection, which comes in the framework of the ministry’s keenness to monitor markets and commercial activities in a bid to crack down on price manipulation, disclose violations and protect consumer rights.
The inspection campaigns, conducted by inspectors from the ministry in various regions of the state, resulted in 69 violations; varied between the failing to comply with the list of selling prices before and during reductions, failing to announce product/service prices, failing to clearly identify service information, including its advantages, characteristics and prices, failing to announce product/service prices in Arabic , failing to comply with the prices of fruits and vegetables stated in the daily bulletin, declaring reductions without obtaining the necessary approval from the competent authority and selling and displaying expired products.
It should be noted that the fines issued by the ministry to the violated outlets included closures and financial penalties starting from 5000QR up to 30000QR, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Consumer Protection Anti-Commercial Fraud department.
The following table shows the type and number of violations issued during the month of November 2016:NumberType of Violation16Failing to comply with the list of selling prices before and during reductions12Failing to announce product/service prices4Failing to clearly identify service information, including its advantages, characteristics and prices3Failing to announce product/service prices in Arabic1Failing to clearly announce product/service prices3Failing to comply with the prices of fruits and vegetables stated in the daily bulletin1Failing to include clearly all the information related to the displayed product1Failing to separate goods subjected to reductions  from other goods prominently6
Selling and displaying expired products
                                                        1Selling and displaying products that don’t match the approved and declared standard specifications2Raising the prices without an approval from the competent authority.2Raising the prices of Australian Meat slaughtered locally5Charging a price higher than the price that was declared6Declaring reductions without obtaining the necessary approval from the competent authority2Declaring promotions without obtaining the necessary approval from the competent authority3Using false and deceptive information when describing, advertising or displaying the product1The imposition to buy a certain amount of a commodity or buy another commodity with it69Total
 
In addition, the concerned authorities with Consumer Protection at the ministry have received 1,242 complain that were handled through taking the necessary actions to resolve them.
In turn, 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 crack down on violations. The ministry said it will refer those who violate laws and ministerial decrees to competent authorities, who will in turn take appropriate action against perpetrators in order to protect consumer rights.
The ministry urges all consumers to report violations to the Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department 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 application of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce on iPhone and Android devices MEC_QATAR