RIYADH — The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing announced the start of implementing the updated sanctions rules for the municipal violations. The ministry has granted shops and establishments that come under the purview of the rules a period ranging between 90 and180 days to correct their status. The updated rules aimed to raise the quality of services, the level of hygiene and public health in cities, apart from enhancing transparency in the municipal sector. This comes within the framework of continuous efforts to raise compliance rates in Saudi cities, which is reflected in the quality of services provided to the residents and visitors of the cities. The ministry said that the updated regulations included amending nine sets of violations such as violations of commercial activities; violations of public hygiene and transporters of commercial waste; violations of roads and streets; violations of construction; violations of gas stations; violations of municipal fees associated with the percentage of sales; violations of advertising and billboards, and violations of sales and violations of health facilities. The ministry noted that the application of the penalty against the violations is suspended with regard to 43 percent of the total violations. In these cases, it would be sufficient to warn the violator for the first time violation before slapping the penalty. This is within the framework of the ministry's keenness to raise compliance rates with regulations and requirements, while taking into account of the economies of cities by classifying violations into five categories. Five major mayoralties come in the first category while the rest of the mayoralties come in the second classification, and the remaining municipalities come under the third category.
