The public is encouraged to save their receipts, as they will be useful in the event of a dispute.
Authorities warned on Wednesday that during Ramadan, consumers are encouraged to be watchful and report infractions, since businesses in the United Arab Emirates are prohibited from raising the prices of nine essential commodities without prior consent.
According to Abdullah Sultan Al Fan Al Shamsi, assistant undersecretary for the monitoring and follow-up sector at the Ministry of Economy (MoE), the pricing strategy for consumer goods is a crucial tenet of market price management.
At a press conference on Wednesday, he declared,
"This policy forbids price hikes of nine essential goods which are, cooking oil, eggs, dairy, rice, sugar, poultry, legumes, bread, and wheat without prior approval from the Ministry of Economy and the competent authorities in the country."
Residents are urged to save their receipts to guarantee their rights are preserved, since families are anticipated to stock up on necessities and take advantage of discounts throughout this holy month, the official stated.
These purchasing records will be useful in the event of a disagreement.
"As the first step in safeguarding their rights and confirming their purchases, we implore customers to embrace conscientious shopping practices, which includes keeping track of their invoices. It guarantees them that any complaints endangering their rights as consumers would be reported to the appropriate authorities,
according to Al Shamsi.
He continued by saying that the ministry has taken steps to guarantee that sales and discounts would be used properly throughout this holy month.
Additionally, we hope that customers will use our means to be in constant contact with the Ministry and with regulatory agencies. This facilitates the filing of complaints, the reporting of harmful commercial activities that compromise consumer protection, and the exchange of ideas and proposals to improve the nation's consumer protection framework. The toll-free number 8001222 is how they may get in touch with us, he stated.
Al Shamsi stated that the goal is to inform customers of their rights and stop actions that could jeopardize their interests.
In 2023, 96,200 inspections were carried out by the ministry and other regulatory bodies in the United Arab Emirates to address infractions concerning product quality monitoring, price labeling, and the prevention of commercial fraud and trademark infringements. A total of 6,545 infractions were found throughout this operation.
News Source: Khaleej Times
