Business | General

Riyadh takes steps to protect consumer rights

Saudi Arabia decided on Monday to set up a consumer protection society to defend and preserve consumers rights.

  • By Mariam Al Hakeem, Correspondent
  • Published: 00:41 January 23, 2008
  • Gulf News

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia decided on Monday to set up a consumer protection society to defend and preserve consumers rights.

"The Consumer Protection Society (CPS) shall look at the interests and take care of consumers, defend and protect their rights," said the decision adopted by the Saudi cabinet during its weekly session chaired by the Saudi monarch King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz.

Detailing further the tasks and responsibilities of the new body, the cabinet noted that the society will also take up issues concerning consumers at the public and private agencies and protect consumers from all types of fraud, products imitation, deceitful practices and exaggerated prices of products.

The body is also tasked with promoting awareness among consumers on how to rationalise their purchasing habits.

The formation of the society comes at a time when the prices of consumer products are increasing, a matter met with criticism from both Saudis and expatriate workers.

Sources at the Saudi market said that the prices of 80 per cent of daily consumed products, including rice and milk powder, have increased, reaching more than 50 per cent in some cases.

In the past few months there have been calls for the government to intervene and end the price hike of products. To address the issue from their own perspectives, a number of Saudi private sector institutions decided, last month, to hike the salaries of their staff.

The increase, the first of its kind to be taken by such a number of companies and banks, is called "high cost of living temporary allowance".

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