40% discount on staples during Ramadan

Abu Dhabi: Major retail outlets and cooperative societies announced on Monday they will slash the prices of scores of basic commodities by up to 40 per cent for the month of Ramadan.

Dr Hashim Al Nuaimi, Director of the Consumer Protection Department at the Ministry of Economy, said outlets had allocated Dh180 million in subsidies to absorb the loss resulting from the price cuts on rice, oil, milk, flour and water, among other major grocery items.

The Ministry has put a plan in place to ensure small groceries do not misuse the discounts.

Al Nuaimi explained that as a large number of items are sold at less than cost price and many others are sold at up to 40 per cent discount, small groceries send their workers to buy large quantities of those discounted items and sell them at a higher price so they can make a profit.

Officials from the Abu Dhabi Economic Development Department and these outlets discussed means to stop misuse of the Ramadan discount scheme. A suggestion was that these discounted items be stamped with slashed prices to prevent groceries from selling them at higher prices.

The outlets will also limit the number of items one can buy of these discounted items at a time.

Stressing that the Ministry of Economy will have zero tolerance for the exploitation of consumers by small outlets, Dr Al Nuaimi said groceries violating the rules will be slapped with fines ranging between Dh5,000 and Dh100,000.

Dr Al Nuaimi said the ministry will check bills to ensure groceries bought staples directly from suppliers and not from cooperatives. Sudden checks will also be conducted on groceries during Ramadan, Al Nuaimi said.

Al Nuaimi said no approval was given for price increase requests this year. “The High Consumer Protection Committee put off considering these requests until the end of Ramadan,” Al Nuaimi said.

Al Nuaimi said in the event of approval of any price increase, the increase will be gradual and declared long before it is applied.

Al Nuaimi said more food products will be put on the Government’s price-monitoring scheme.

The system links the UAE’s ports electronically, monitoring commodity prices daily in collaboration with co-operative societies and major retail outlets.

It lets officials see any supply shortage, how much has been imported and the prices of food items being sold.

Outlets that have been caught overcharging have been fined up to Dh100,000.

The Abu Dhabi Economic Development Department will also waive charges for Ramadan promotion schemes for food and consumer products.

Al Nuaimi said that most of the items on offer are discounted between 30 and 40 per cent.

Ramadan food baskets will be available in all retail outlets across the UAE. The baskets contain essential food items such as rice, sugar, milk, canned foods and cooking oil at discounted prices.

The Ramadan baskets will cost between Dh100-Dh200 and will be sufficient for a family of five for an entire week.