The third quarter of 2020 saw the Commercial Compliance & Consumer Protection (CCCP) sector in Dubai Economy receiving 14,274 consumer complaints, 39% higher than the 10,266 complaints received during the same period in 2019. The increase signifies the persistent efforts of Dubai Economy to protect consumer rights, improve consumer awareness, and promote transparent and fair merchant-consumer relations.

Total number of consumer issues handled by CCCP during Q3 2020 reached 15,403, of which 14,274 were complaints, 707 were observations, and 422 were enquiries. Of the total complaints, 50% were submitted through the ‘Dubai Consumer’ app, 35% through the Consumerrights.ae website, and 15% through the call centre.

The largest share of complaints (32%) was about services, followed by electronics (16%), eCommerce (12.6%), ready-made garments and accessories (8.2%), furniture (7.3%), automobiles (5.5%), freight (5.2%), car rental (3.28%), decoration and building maintenance (3.22%), textiles and personal items (3.16%), car workshops (2.4%), and hair salons (1.1%).

A majority of the complaints (28%) was about refunds, followed by mon-compliance with the terms of the agreement (15.85%,) damage or defect in the product (15.14%), commercial fraud (10%), non-compliance with after-sales service (6.23%), additional fees for the service or product (5.21%), replacement (4%), and unauthorised commercial activity (3.36%). The remaining were distributed among: legally untenable shop policy, non-compliance with warranty terms, refusal to repair a device, price hikes, non-adherence to the terms of promotional offers, non-compliance with the price list, value-added tax, and fraudulent purchase of gold and diamonds.

Nationality-wise, Emiratis accounted for 29% of the consumer complaints received, followed by Indians (13%), Egyptians (12%) Saudis and Jordanians (5% each). The remaining s were distributed among different nationalities.

Mohammed Ali Rashed Lootah, CEO of CCCP, said: “Dubai Economy is keen on enhancing consumer confidence in the emirate through resolving consumer complaints amicably, thus promoting mutual trust between merchants and consumers. Our awareness programmes are aimed to clarify the rights and duties of consumers as well as merchants, and enhance the principles of transparency in transactions.”

Lootah added: “More and more consumers interacting with Dubai Economy and filing their complaints show improving consumer rights awareness.  Consumers raising their queries and complaints to the authorities concerned, and having them resolved satisfactorily is important to ensuring a healthy and compliant business environment.”

Dubai Economy also called on everyone to report any non-compliance to the precautionary guidelines through the Dubai Consumer app available on the Apple, Google, and Huawei stores, by calling 600545555, or by visiting the Consumerrights.ae website.