(25 December 2019)
The UAE Cabinet has approved a law to protect consumers and allows them full freedom to choose commodities at fair prices.
The Consumer Protection Law, approved by the Cabinet chaired by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, aims to ensure price stability as per the best practices and curbs any practices that may have negative impacts on consumers and lead to price hike.
The law, which provides protection to consumers in light of technological developments and rapid growth in e-commerce, regulates the relationship between suppliers, advertisers and commercial agents.
It forms part of government efforts to keep update legislation that affect the lives of citizens and residents in order to ensure the full protection for consumers and price stability in accordance with the best practices.
The law is in line with the GCC’s Unified Law on Consumer Protection, in a manner that ensures legislative integration between the GCC Countries. It also aims to continue providing adequate protection to consumers in light of the technological advancement and accelerated growth seen by the electronic commerce. The law also ensures the delivery of goods and services according to production and distribution patterns tailored to consumers’ needs and limits any practices that may have negative impacts on consumers.
It helps encourage sustainable consumption and provides the necessary conditions for creating a free market where consumers are granted the right to choose freely with fair prices, and also encourages the creation of a code of ethics for goods and services producers and distributors.
The law will regulate the work of suppliers, advertisers and commercial agents with regard to consumer protection, control price increases under unusual circumstances, ensure the implementation of guarantees for goods and services provided by the producer or principal and regulate the e-commerce work. It will determine the applicable penalties and grievances in this regard.