TAIF: The Ministry of Trade and Industry receives some 2,000 reports a week of instances of “price manipulation or commercial fraud”. A source at the ministry said the figure constituted reports from the public via the ministry's designated telephone hotline. “The public is the first line of battle in putting an end to the practice,” the source said. “It is the ministry's eyes on the street.” In response to reports of price variations, according to the source, the ministry takes the person's name and details – “information which remains completely confidential” – and sends an inspector to the reported site. “The ministry is responsible for any rise or variation in prices or fraud at all commercial outlets from supermarkets to corner shops, clothing stores or suppliers of spare parts and electrical goods, and restaurants and cafes,” he said. The ministry hotline free number to report instances of price fixing or fraud is: 8001241616.
