Complaints relating to commercial disputes in Dubai dropped by 35% between 2016 and 2017 following improved efforts by the Commercial Compliance & Consumer Protection (CCCP) sector in the Department of Economic Development (DED) to protect the rights of businesses in line with the emirate’s reputation as a competitive environment for businesses to grow sustainably.
The Business Protection section within CCCP received 1,018 complaints following from commercial disputes in 2017 against 1,555 such complaints in 2016.
Sector-wise, Services accounted for 45.5% of complaints, followed by Electronics (8.7%), Foodstuff (4.9%), Shipping (4.7%), Clearing (3.5%) Construction material (3.4%), Furnishing (2.5%), Cars (2.2%), Furniture (1.2%), Accessories (0.9%), Labour supply, Transport, and Communications (0.3% each), and Car rental (0.1%) while 22% complaints were from other varied sectors.
Mohammed Ali Rashid Lootah, CEO of CCCP, said DED is proud to be a leader in promoting transparency and impartiality among businesses in Dubai and across their dealings with businesses within and outside the UAE, thus strengthening the emirate’s reputation as a commercial hub not only for the GCC and the Middle East but also for the rest of the world.
“Non-compliance with the terms of the agreement was one of the most common complaints in 2017, accounting for 59.7% of total,” Lootah said. Non-compliance with contract terms had a share of 20%, followed by commercial fraud (4.3%), after-sales service (2%), non-compliance with warranty terms (1.3%), and excess charge on service or product (0.2%) while 11% of the complaints were related to a number of other issues.
Lootah stressed that CCCP is keen to resolve commercial complaints within a period not exceeding 10 days, which is the fastest complaints resolution in the UAE. Those submitting complaints should provide a copy of the documents proving the validity of their claim. In the case of complainants from outside the UAE, the complaint letter or document must be attested by any competent authority in their respective country. Complaints can be submitted on the call centre number 971 600 54 5555, by email to businessprotection@dubaided.gov.ae or through the social media accounts of CCCP.