Dubai: The new Blue Book outlining consumers rights will not change the way big brand retailers do business but will hit hard smaller retailers that are not abiding by standard practices, according to major retailers.

The Blue Book was issued by the Department of Economic Development (DED) yesterday to regulate the relationship between retailers and customers in four main areas: invoices, warranties, exchange and refund policies and repairs. Car traders and retailers of clothing, personal items and electronics were especially targeted. This comes amid complaints on customer service, especially on warranties.

"This is a welcome move... This means all the extra money we've been investing in conforming to these guidelines will pay off as we compete with a lot of smaller operators who don't necessarily conform to the same rules and this evens out the playing field for both us as retailers and consumers," said Ashish Panjabi, chief executive of Jacky's Electronics. "There is little change for us. It is still business as normal as we've been working within these conditions largely. It means those who've been taking advantage of consumers will now have to face the wrath of the law and rightly so."

Competitive market

In a competitive market, retailers cannot afford to wait for a guideline before realising that customer is king.

"The retail market is getting very competitive. Even if they hadn't brought out this book, the relationship between customer and retailer has to be absolutely transparent. It's a good thing that there is a notification and printed regulations, but I think the market is very competitive, you don't need these things. The last thing a retailer wants to see is a customer walking away," said Vipen Sethi, chief executive of Landmark Group. "I don't think this will change the way we do business, we have to make sure we are customer focused."

"It's good to have it because consumers have to be protected, it's a good way to incorporate these standards, assisting the customers in differentiating from good and bad retailers," said an official from Mazda. "There has to be one unified guideline for all dealerships."

But some retailers are worried that customers will try to take advantage of the new rule book to get cash refunds and product exchanges.