Regulations are being formulated to provide further protection for hard-pressed consumers against unreasonable price hikes and unscrupulous business practices. At a press conference on Saturday night, Dr. Mufleh Al-Qahtani, Chairman of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), said his organization was collaborating with the Consumer Protection Society (CPS) to refer long-awaited consumer regulations to the relevant authorities for approval and implementation “soon.” The regulations are expected to further organize the relationship between the consumer and merchants and will have specific penalties for any violations. At the press conference the NSHR and CPS signed a memorandum of understanding to ensure a better working relationship. Al-Qahtani said that protection of the consumer is part of the protection of human rights. He said a symposium will be held under the title “Consumer Protection” to which all the relevant authorities would be invited. Further details of the symposium will be announced later, he added. Al-Qahtani said that the recent increase in prices was not justified and suggested that a specialist government agency is created to fix the rate at which prices are increased by businesses. Al-Qahtani said that there has been a lack of supervision by the government agencies on prices in the Kingdom, particularly by the Consumer Protection Agency at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. “The NSHR has received numerous complaints, including exaggerated [prices] in leasing of commodities; Saudi Arabian Airlines imposing fines; and factories not respecting consumer rights.” Meanwhile, Dr. Muhammad Al-Hamad, Chairman of the Consumer Protection Society (CPS), said the work of the CPS is currently facing a number of difficulties. “We are striving to build our staff and administration. We are suffering from financial difficulties because government support does not reach us.” Al-Hamad said that there has been a refusal by the chambers of commerce in Jeddah and Riyadh to pay 10 percent of their budgets to the society. This is despite the fact that this percentage had been specified by the Council of Ministers, he said. “There are discussions with the two chambers to solve the matter amicably before filing a complaint in this regard.” He said that the one of the other challenges facing his organization is that the community is not aware of its role. Al-Hamad said the price hikes in certain commodities have been caused by merchants who have not received rice or milk subsidies. “There are many regulations already in place to reduce the prices, but they have not been activated,” he said. Al-Hamad said that most of the complaints received by the NSHR were mostly related to services and not to prices. Al-Hamad said there are meetings planned with various agencies to ensure coordination of the work between them, and to ensure that they protect the consumer against unscrupulous businesses. This includes meetings with the Commission for Information Technology and Communication (CITC), the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO).
