Jeddah, Jan 10: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has started implementing a recent Cabinet decision to compel car agencies and showrooms to display all information on each model offered for sale, including prices, aimed at ensuring consumer protection.
According to sources, the Council of Saudi Chambers received a directive from the ministry to instruct car agencies and distributors about the new conditions for vehicle sale.
It is not permissible to sell a vehicle or offer for sale at showrooms unless certain vital information is displayed on the vehicle under the new regulations, said the sources.
The regulations also stipulate that the mandatory trade data about the vehicle must be written in Arabic and English languages.
The data should include the price of the car, and all the information should be real and displayed at a prominent location in legible letters on the windshield of the car for sale. The new regulation is supposed to be in force after 60 days from the date of issue of the order.
The ministry officials will conduct inspections at the showrooms and distribution agencies to ensure that they are adhering to the new regulations and
penal measures taken against defaulters.
The ministry launched this year several regulations governing consumer-dealer relationships for post-sale services.
The regulations make it mandatory for dealers to provide a substitute car for each day of delay if the agent delayed the supply of spare parts, or if he violated the obligation to ensure the quality of manufacture.
The new instructions also considers it the obligation of a dealer to provide an alternative spare part of the same brand to the consumer for each day of the delay in the event of breach of the agent’s obligation to ensure the supply of spare parts in order to achieve the intended purpose of the spare part during the guarantee period ensuring the quality of manufacture.
The ministry also stressed that the consumer is not bound to conduct periodic maintenance of his car at the dealer. The guarantee remains valid even if the maintenance is done at another place other than the dealer, the source said.
The move is part of the ministry’s efforts to ensure consumer protection especially from exploitation or fraud and the ministry’s decision to regulate the car market by improving the dealers’ services, including the commitment to guarantees, maintenance, repairs and spare parts, consumers receive from car distributors, the source added.
In a related development, Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, director of Public Relations at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, demanded that the new regulations governing the sale of new cars be extended to the showrooms of used cars as well.
He pointed out that if the used car showrooms are compelled to publish prices of the cars offered for sale, customers could be saved from the clutches of speculators and unscrupulous brokers in the market, which is considerably larger than the market for new cars.
"The US looks at things from their perspective, not from the perspective of this region. The killing of Qassem Soleimani shows ignorance and arrogance. 430 Indian cities saw protests against killing of Soleimani," Zarif said at an event.
Comments
Add new comment