The UAE cabinet last week approved the Consumer Protection Law which, when it comes into effect, will add more muscle to the existing protection offered to consumers. As the building block of society, the consumer is at the heart of a strong economy and fair market practices and as such, the UAE has always worked towards upholding their rights. The UAE’s consumer protection laws seek to safeguard not just the domestic consumer but even visitors from anywhere in the world.
The new law provides protection to consumers in light of technological developments and rapid growth in e-commerce. It also regulates the relationship between suppliers, advertisers and commercial agents.
A slew of efforts by the UAE government already ensure that the consumer enjoys the best of market benefits: fair prices, price stability, high-quality goods, speedy elimination of fake goods, strict punitive measures for people dealing in fake goods, platforms to redress consumer complaints, domestic as well as from overseas, and speedy attendance to resolutions and disputes. In addition, authorities in the UAE keep themselves up to date with all consumer-related bulletins from all corners of the globe.
Consumers chart the economic road map of a country and the stronger the laws to protect them, the more profitable is the journey to greater market vitality.
These are all big drivers in boosting consumer confidence, and the UAE ensures it generates them all. From the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA), a federal entity that provides the highest level of safety and quality measures for all products, whether made in the UAE or imported, to departments in the government such the Commercial Compliance & Consumer Protection (CCCP) division in the Department of Economic Development in Dubai and Consumer Protection Department at the Ministry of Economy — to AI-powered Smart Protection Services, the consumer is given total priority in the UAE.
In 2018, for example, the CCCP dealt with 1,007 issues of which consumer complaints accounted for 81 per cent. A matter to note is that no issue or problem faced by the consumer is too small for the authorities to resolve. From retail products to the service industry, from salesmen to suppliers, the UAE covers the full ground for consumers and the systems and processes it adopts are run with an all-round efficiency.
The CCCP uses a window of four working days from the date of the complaint being logged to follow up on complaints, communicate with the parties concerned and find solutions acceptable to all parties concerned.
Consumers chart the economic road map of a country and the stronger the laws to protect them, the more profitable is the journey to greater market vitality.
