Muscat PACP recovers OMR 360,000 in seven months

MUSCAT: People living in Muscat had over OMR360,000 returned to them from companies which had financially harmed them during the first seven months of 2019, according to the Public Authority for Consumer Protections.

Most of the complaints handled by the PACP in Muscat between January-July 2019 were about car agencies and repair workshops, a leading PACP official said.

A statement by the authority read: “The Complaints Department at the General Authority for Consumer Protection in Muscat has managed to retrieve more than 360,000 OMR for the benefit of consumers, according to the Statistical Indicators Report for the period from January to the end of July of this year [2019].

“The Authority will try to settle complaints by amicable means between the parties and find appropriate solutions according to the procedures stipulated in the Consumer Protection Law,” the statement added.

Walid bin Ali Al Rawahi, Director of Complaints Department, said: “The PACP recovered OMR137,065 in the vehicles and equipment sector and also replaced 11 vehicles and 85 commodities including spare parts and tires. In addition, OMR203,151 was recovered in the building materials, furniture, furnishings, clothes and accessories sector, and 25 items were replaced. In the electrical and electronic appliances sector, OMR20,414 was recovered and 391 items were replaced, including phones, watches, refrigerators, air conditioners, ovens and other electronic and electrical goods.”

The complaints manager added that most of the problems dealt with by the department focused on complaints about vehicles in car agencies and repair workshops, equipment and machinery, electrical and electronic devices, and other services sector, adding that that the authority is ever vigilant in protecting consumers.

According to him, companies which are complying and working to settle complaints also deserve credit.

He added, “The data is also a testament to the extent of the response of commercial establishments and their tendency to settle matters amicably with the consumer when called by the authority.”

The PACP had recently announced that the number of complaints had fallen in the first half of 2019 compared to the first half of 2018.

Statistical indicators for the first half of 2019 showed a decrease by 11.9 percent in the index of reports, violations and seized goods compared to the same period for 2018, while the total communications during the first half of 2019 amounted to 2401, compared to 2725 reports for the same period in 2018.

The PACP has recently given over the authority for food-related complaints to directorates of food safety in municipalities across Oman.