File photo for representation only.
Over 500 commodities will be made available at controlled prices for the public at commercial outlets during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, a Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) official has said. Assistant Undersecretary for Consumer Affairs at MoCI, Sheikh Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, said that the prices of commodities go down during the holy Month of Ramadan thanks to the Ministry’s initiatives. Speaking in a Qatar TV programme, he said the monitoring is intensified for fruit and vegetate shops to ensure the availability of quality products at suitable prices.
“Recently, monitoring has been intensified on trading of fish and seafood, which helped in reducing the prices remarkably. This is a great achievement,” he said. Sheikh Jassim said there is also an initiative to make meat available on subsidised prices during the holy month. The Ministry has been carrying out this initiative for the past nine years. “As per the consumer price index issued by the Planning and Statistics Authority, the price of commodities witness decrease in Ramadan compared to other months of the year thanks to the initiatives taken by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry,” said Sheikh Jassim. He said the Ministry's Consumer Protection Department is conducting strict monitoring of commercial outlets during Ramadan to check compliance with the rules like proper display and details of the products, and preventing fraud. The monitoring, he said, helps greatly in ensuring the availability of quality commodities at suitable prices.
Speaking about e-trading, Sheikh Jassim said the Consumer Protection Department ensures that the trading conducted through electronic platforms should comply with the provisions of the Consumer Protection Law in term of pricing and preventing misleading advertisements and harmful or counterfeit products. “The Consumer Affairs Sector of the Ministry issued some decisions which enabled to display local products prominently at the shelves of commercial outlets and hypermarkets operating across the country,” said Sheikh Jassim. He said under the initiative to support local products which was taken by the MoCI in collaboration with the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, the service charges for some local products were reduced at the outlets to provide better prices to local producers.
The prices of commodities are determined by supply and demand in general as the State does not intervene. However, he said that prices of some basic commodities and services which have direct connection with day to day life of people are being regulated by a special committee following the law in this regard. He said consumer complaints have increased significantly in 12 years. The rise in complaints shows increasing awareness of their rights among consumers. Sheikh Jassim said Commerce and Consumer Affairs Prosecution is a result of cooperation between the Ministry and Public Prosecution which is an advanced step to support business and investment environment. The initiative has helped in speedy disposal of cases of consumer protection and trading, he added.
