Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — A courier company has been slapped with SR100,000 fine for not delivering/delaying consignments to the addressee, Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday.

In a stern warning, the Communication and Information Technology Commission has asked the company to pay for the violations and rectify the situation within one week. Failure to do so will result in additional punitive measures, leading to the closure of the company and revocation of its license.

Meanwhile in another development, the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) in Saudi Arabia summoned on Thursday those in charge of a number of stores and companies for delivering parcels in different regions of the Kingdom for a meeting.

The meeting has been called to address complaints and grievances the two ministries have been receiving of late from customers over the delay in delivery of their consignments.

According to a statement issued on Thursday, the two ministries said that the reason for the delay in consignment delivery is due to the tremendous increase in orders from e-stores as a result of the restrictions on movement during the curfew.

The two ministries said that these companies are now working on increasing their work flow and delivering the consignments within a few days.

The ministries of “commerce” and “communication and information technology” held a meeting on Thursday with the parcels delivery stores and companies to find urgent solutions, and ensure delivery of consignments during the coming few days. The client will be granted the right to get a full reimbursement of the amount he or she paid, if he is unwilling to wait and he notifies the store or company about this.

The two ministries expressed their keenness to guarantee protection of consumer rights. They also called on everyone to cooperate and be considerate in view of the current exceptional circumstances.

The ministries asserted that they will continue to work in coordination with all the other government authorities and concerned companies to ensure serving consumers and protecting their rights.