The Commercial Compliance & Consumer Protection (CCCP) sector in the Department of Economic Development saw a 23% increase in consumer complaint during the first half of 2018 compared to the same period last year as more conscious consumers continued to come forward and raise their concerns with the authorities as well as merchants.

CCCP, while continuing its efforts to enhance the role of DED in consumer protection and reinforcing Dubai’s reputation as a safe shopping destination for residents as well as tourists, received 14,970 complaints during the first half of 2018, compared to 12,133 complaints during H1 2017.

The Consumer Protection section in CCCP dealt with 18,014 issues during H1 2018 out of which consumer complaints accounted for 23%. The rest included 1,823 notes and 1,221 enquiries received from consumers. Complaints received from inside the UAE accounted for 34% and the top five nationality-wise breakdown of complainants were as follows: India (13%), Egypt (10%), Saudi Arabia (7%) and Jordan (5%).

The services sector had a 28.3% share in the total complaints received while 17.8% were from the electronics sector, 11.9% relating to e-commerce, 10.3% miscellaneous, 8.9% regarding automobiles, and 6.4% about car rentals. Textiles and personal items (4.0%), furniture (3.4%), clothing and accessories (3.2%), shipping (2.8%), car repair workshops (1.6%), décor and building maintenance (0.9%) and hair saloons (0.6%).

Mohammed Ali Rashid Lootah, CEO of the CCCP sector, said: “The retail sector is a key driver of local economic growth in Dubai and the UAE. Our effort is to bring greater transparency into business transactions, and create a culture of awareness and neutrality in the buying and selling processes in the retail sector, in accordance with the highest quality standards and practices.”

Lootah added that non-compliance with the purchase agreement was one of the most important complaints received during the first half of 2018, accounting for 28.9% of the total.  Cash refunds (19.4%), VAT (8.9%), miscellaneous (8.8%), product defect (8.5%), commercial fraud (5.4%), non-compliance with warranty terms (4.3%), product replace (3.5%), additional charges on products/services (2.4%), product/device breakdown (2.2%), damaged products (2.1%), non-compliance with price list (1.3%), non-compliance with promotional offers (1.2%), non-compliance with after sales service (1.1%), reject device repair (0.5%), bad sewing (0.3%), non-compliance with business activity and incompatibility with the law (0.1%), and buying counterfeit gold and diamond (0.04%) were the other main issues raised.

Lootah stressed the role played by DED and CCCP in immediately following up on complaints received, communicating with the parties concerned, as well as in finding solutions acceptable to all parties concerned within a period not exceeding four working days from the date of receiving the complaint.