No price hike before VAT, traders warned

ajman — The Ajman Municipality and the department of economic development have warned commercial outlets operating in the emirate against hiking prices of goods before the implementation of the value-added tax (VAT).

Officials of both the departments confirmed that inspections will be conducted on shops to ensure that prices of goods are not increased and violators will be fined.

Awareness campaigns will be organised for traders on the importance of commitment to the regulation related to increasing prices of products that are not subject to value-added tax. The municipality said it had warned traders against exploiting the order to make profit at the expense of consumers.

Said Ali Issa Al Nuaimi, director-general of the department of economic development, said that the department started organising special inspection campaigns, especially on retail shops, in cooperation with the consumer protection section.

He stressed that the campaign will be intensified over the coming days in all outlets and markets. The department is currently working on conducting awareness campaigns for owners of shops and shopping centres about VAT. “There are goods not included in the VAT and its prices are not supposed to be increased. The inspectors will confirm the retail sales prices from the suppliers and will check their purchase invoices to ensure this.”

An official said that inspectors from the civic body are deployed in the local market to make sure that traders are not exploiting the VAT decision and displaying prices of items as approved by the Ministry of Economy. He urged the public to contact the municipality’s communication system ‘Tawasul’ for complaints.

afkarali@khaleejtimes.com