Supreme Committee for Consumer Protection warns against illegal service charges by restaurants
Posted on: December 27th, 2009
Industry: GovernmentHospitality
Country: United Arab Emirates
His Excellency Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy and Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Consumer Protection, headed the 4th meeting of the Committee for 2009 in Dubai, and discussed measures to manage food prices, and the latest updates of the early alert system and the illegal service charge added by some restaurants in the UAE.
The Committee warned restaurants against the illegal service charges. This followed several complaints received by the Ministry of Economy that some restaurants were charging as much as 5 to 20 per cent of the bill as service charge, which the Committee said is against the consumer protection law number 26 for year 2006.
Mr Al Mansouri said that the Ministry will take serious measures against those who violate the law, adding that Committee has recommended the implementation of Article 3 of the Consumer Protection Law and to contact all government departments to take actions against restaurants that charge the illegal service charge.
He added: “We have succeeded in creating equilibrium and stability in the UAE markets. The committee is exerting tremendous efforts to monitor prices and prevent any price manipulation attempts by coordinating with local concerned government departments all over the UAE.”
Other important issues discussed included updates on the Early Alert System to ensure that prices of essential goods are managed effectively. The Ministry of Economy has signed an MOU with local Customs departments in the UAE to provide data on the activity of basic commodities. The committee also recommended implementing the first stage of the Early Alert System by linking the Customs departments together to exchange information on imports and exports of various commodities.
The system aims to investigate the reasons behind the shortage of commodities globally, and device means to prevent unprecedented price rises due to supply fluctuations in the international markets.
The Committee also discussed the report of consumer’s complaints. The Consumer Protection Department received 2400 complaints from January to November 2009 of which 60% were about the prices increase and 32 % about cars. Other complaints related to mobile phones, electronics, tyres, real-estate and others. Al these complaints were resolved by the department with 70 of them handled through special committees and 5 transferred to concerned courts.
For further information, please contact:
Nedal Al Asaad / Nizar Aridi
ASDA’A Burson Marsteller
Tel: (+971 4) 334 4550; Fax: (+971 4) 334 4556
E-mail: n.alasaad@asdaa.com, n.aridi@asdaa.com
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