The Ministry of Labor and Social Development has transferred to the concerned committee 1,772 cases of violations of the Saudization of mobile phone sales and maintenance sector. Fahd Al-Owaidi, undersecretary at the ministry for inspection and work environment development, said that there won't be any leniency toward violators of the ministry's regulations, the Saudi Press Agency reported. He said inspectors from the ministry and other agencies have discovered 2,427 violations in one-and-a-half months after the deadline for implementing 50 percent Saudization ended on June 6 (Ramadan 1). A total of 1,296 shops have been shut down while 655 have been served with warning notice. Another 13,383 shops have assured that they will abide by the regulations within a time frame. The Eastern Province tops in the number of such firms with 3,754 shops assuring of implanting the decision to hire Saudis. It was followed by Riyadh with 1,994 shops. The Eastern Province also tops in the number of violations (662), and the number of raids (4,184) carried out by inspectors. Al-Owaidi said that the authorities are determined to strictly enforce the Saudization regulations in this vital sector as it has the potential to generate huge number of jobs for Saudis. He said that the ministry is also striving hard to regulate the employment market by putting an end to labor law violations and curb tasattur (cover up businesess). Earlier, Minister of Labor Mufrej Al-Haqbani issued orders for the total Saudization of all sales outlets and maintenance shops of mobile phones and their accessories within a period of six months. As per the directive, all mobile sales and maintenance shops had to replace 50 percent expatriate workers with Saudi men and women before June 6 and replace all expats with Saudis before Sept. 3 (Dhul Hijjah 1). The ministry warned that those who fail to implement Saudization regulation in mobile phone sales and maintenance shops will be fined SR20,000 for employing each foreign worker. The new decision is being implemented in cooperation with the ministries of commerce and investment, municipal and rural affairs, and communications and information technology. The ministry urged citizens to inform the authorities about any violations through contacting uniform customer service number 19911 or sending messages to the link https://rasd.ma3an.gov.sa.
