The official spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, Abdulrahman Al-Hussein, clarified (5) requirements and regulations that commercial establishments and electronic stores must comply with when organizing commercial competitions.

These requirements consist of issuing an electronic license from the Chamber of Commerce before holding the competition, clarifying the method of participation and the type of prizes offered to contestants, and the start and end dates of the competition, provided that the prize draw is conducted under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce.

The Ministry’s spokesperson confirmed that among the conditions for organizing commercial competitions are the prohibition of requiring purchase for entry into the prize draw, the prohibition of increasing product prices during the holding of the competition, the publication of the license number in the competition advertisements, and adherence to the prohibition of participation by the competition organizer, their relatives, or employees of the establishment.

The Commerce spokesperson indicated the necessity of complying with the delivery of prizes within seven days from the date of the draw, and announcing the results through the same means by which the competition was announced, in addition to prohibiting the duration of the competition from exceeding sixty days from its announcement until the delivery of the prizes.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Commerce undertakes its supervisory duties to ascertain the compliance of commercial establishments and electronic stores with the regulations of organizing competitions and discounts, and apprehends violators and applies against them the penalties stipulated in the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law, which include tashheer (defamation), imprisonment for a period of up to three years, and a fine of up to one million riyals, among others.