The Purchase Condition to Enter the Contest was included. The Discounted Items were not Specified
MCI stopped commercials in the media recently, included illegal offers that mislead the consumers for 5 companies. The Ministry ordered those companies to remove the brochures and posters related to such offers, because the ads included: You should purchase to enter the contest "lottery", and offering discounts, which in fact, on specific commodities that are not mentioned clearly, others are not as stipulated by the granted license, in addition to mysterious offers by Auto Company which does not include the price, and the duration of the offer. The officials in the said companies were summoned for investigation and taking the legal procedures.
The Ministry pointed out that the said companies in violation have been working in selling foodstuffs, clothes, cosmetics and perfume, and the statutory procedures are being proceeded with the violators.
MCI emphasizes that it will follow-up all the commercials in the media to verify that they are typical and conform to reality, and to ensure that consumers are not exposed to fraud or deception, and to follow-up their notifications regarding that, stressing that it will apply the necessary regulations on the institutions in violation.
MCI has stressed earlier that the companies, institutions and factories should not compel the consumers to purchase as a condition for participation in contests, offers and raffles organized by them, or put a contest voucher within the item, or to increase the prevailing price of the commodity during the contest, along with not making any contest or ads., only after obtaining a license. This is in accordance with the text of the Anti-Commercial Fraud.
The Ministry stressed, at that time, that the payment of any amount or requesting the consumers to buy against the participation in the contest is one of the activities of "lottery" essentially forbidden in the kingdom as per the applied Regulations.
The Ministry also announced, at that time, the detection of 4 commercial companies for publishing advertisements for making contests, upon the condition that the consumer should purchase versus participation, where the necessary regulation had been applied against the violating institutions, and the publication of such ads, had been stopped. In addition to imposing fines and publishing the verdict in the local newspapers against a number of violating companies and institutions, as well as those involved were summoned for investigation and taking the legal procedures against them.
MCI calls on all the consumers to report any violation of the terms and conditions for making contests, offers and discounts, to the Notification Center at the Ministry, on the phone No. 1900.