RIYADH — The Ministry of Commerce has approved the penalties that will be levied for sales system violations. The Minister of Commerce Majed Al-Qasabi has issued a decision stipulating his approval of the executive instructions of the sales violations penalties, which has been issued according to the schedule of violations and municipal penalties. Various violations were identified, with fines ranging from a maximum of SR100,000, and the risk of closure if the violation was repeated. In his decision, Al-Qasabi demanded that the employees who were named by a decision issued by the minister to undertake the control of the sale violations, which are stipulated in the table of the violations and municipal penalties. This is in addition to the imposition of the penalties imposed on it, as stipulated in the regulations. The regulation included several penalties, including: First penalty: A fine of SR100 for each shop that violates the energy efficiency card, and in the event of repeating the violation, the fine will be doubled, in addition to closing the store for a week. Second penalty: Stores will be punished with a fine of SR1,000, in addition to closing the store for a week in the event of the following violations: 1 - Not placing prices on products. 2 - Refrain from selling. 3 - Refuse to give the customer the invoice. 4 - Failure of the automatic and semi-automatic bakeries to provide the flatbread and the Somali bread (one of the most popular types of bread). 5 - Stores refraining from providing electronic payment methods. 6 - Any other violation of the sales regulations for which a penalty has not yet been determined. Third penalty: Stores will be punished with a fine of SR5,000, in addition to closing the store for a week in the event of the following violations: 1 - The extravagance and waste from using flour, dough or bread, and this is at a rate exceeding 5% of the amount allocated to the facility per week. The Ministry of Commerce demanded that the violators should be alerted by the control officials before implementing the fines against them, in addition to giving them a deadline of one-day to correct the violation. The penalty will be applied if the violators do not comply within the specified time limit or if they repeat the violation again. 2 - Possession and display of products of unknown origin or if they contain misleading information. If the store possesses and displays products of unknown source or if it contains misleading information, the Ministry will demand the control officer to impose the penalty on the violator immediately. Additionally, it will also seize the products and make an official report that includes a statement of the seizures and its status, in addition to that they will be referred to the Director General of the Ministry in the region to complete the appropriate procedures regarding it. Fourth penalty: Refilling flour or using it for things unrelated to what it was allocated to by the facility that depends on its production on state-subsidized flour, will be punished with a fine of SR10,000, in addition to doubling the fine and closing the shop for a week in the event of repeating the violation. The Ministry demands that the violator should be notified before inflicting these fines and a one-day deadline to correct the violation. The penalty will be applied if the violator does not comply within the specified period for correction or if he repeats it again. Fifth penalty: If the price of the products is increased by the store beyond the specified prices that have been decided by the competent authorities or by the minister of commerce, the store will be penalized with a fine for each item in which it increased its price. The fine will be equivalent to the difference between the specified price and the sale price that the store sold to the beneficiaries. The fine will not exceed SR100,000 and will not be less than SR5,000, in addition, the fine will be doubled and the store will be closed for a week in the event of a repeat violation. In the statement of the Ministry of Commerce, it was clarified that the penalties mentioned in the table of violations and municipal penalties will be imposed according to several matters such as: 1 - Penalties will be imposed for the violations whose financial fine does not exceed SR25,000, in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 5 of the penalties list for municipal violations, in addition to notifying the violator of the violation according to the data that is recorded in his commercial register. 2 - Penalties will be imposed for violations whose financial fine exceeds SR25,000, by submitting the violation to the director general of the ministry in the region to which the violator belongs, in order to refer the violation to the committee stipulated in paragraph 2 of Article 5 of the regulation. Accordingly, the ministry' branch must follow up on the issuance of the decision and to inform the violator of it through their official platforms, in addition to documenting it. 3 - The minimum penalty will be applied if the violator commits the same violation 6 months after the last time he committed the violation, as this is not considered a repetition of the violation, but rather a new violation. 4 - A fine for refusing to issue an invoice is imposed on establishments that are not obligated to submit invoices, and that is in accordance with the requirements of the relevant authorities. 5 - It is possible for the violator to be obligated by removing and correcting the violation at his own private expense if required, and in the event of his non-compliance, a new violation will be charged against him. 6 - The fine will not be imposed on the same violation more than once, except in the event of repetition, or failure to commit to correcting the violation. 7 - Perishable products stores will be taken into consideration, as the violator will be given a period of no more than 3 days to dispose of the materials. 8 - If the seizure site included multiple violations, the violators will be penalized according to the type of violation. It is noteworthy that the ministry has made it possible to file a grievance in front of the minister or whoever he delegates to impose the penalty within 60 days from the date of informing the violator of the penalty' imposition. The ministry said that the violator could file a grievance to the competent court against the decision issued by the minister or by whomever he delegates, within 60 days from the date he has been notified with the decision. The ministry made it clear that the penalties will not be implemented until after the decision has been fortified, and that will be by the lapse of the legally specified period for the grievance, or if the judgment issued in his regard was a definitive judgment.
