Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: A shop promising a 70 per cent sale was fined OMR200 by consumer protection chiefs after customer complaints.
The Public Authority for Consumer Protection has taken action against a number of retailers in the Sultanate over dodgy pricing and false sales promotions.
Another shopkeeper was slapped with a OMR600 fine after the price he displayed on his products was found to be much lower than the actual price charged at the checkout, officials revealed.
A spokesman said: "The Public Authority for Consumer Protection of Barka imposed administrative fines of OMR600 against a number of commercial establishments for violating the Consumer Protection Law issued by Royal Decree No. 66/2014."
"A communication was received from a consumer stating that he purchased a commodity from a commercial centre with a certain price indicated on the item. When he went to the checkout counter, it turned out that the price was different from what was written on the product. The judicial control officers investigated and found the communication was true. Therefore, an administrative fine of OMR150 was imposed.
"Another communication stated that there was a major sale of 20 to 70 per cent on goods. After follow-up, there were no sale offer of up to 70 per cent, which is contrary to the law of consumer protection. So, the consumer protection has been imposed with an administrative fine of OMR200.
"The details of the third violation are summarised in the existence of unfair conditions in the invoices of one of the electrical equipment stores. The invoice stated that the buyer will bear labor and gas costs if the product is defective during the guarantee period. In light of this, an administrative fine of OMR50 has been imposed.
"The other fines were for a number of irregularities such as raising the prices of goods, not issuing the purchase bill, the promise of fulfilling the consumer rights, and not handing over the product to the consumers on the due date," the authority added.
