More than 39,000 consumer complaints were made in Dubai last year, a 20 percent increase on the previous year, Dubai Economy revealed on Monday.
It said the big rise in complaints were driven by continued efforts to improve consumer rights awareness and strengthen consumer feedback to promote the city as a safe and competitive shopping destination.
In 2019, 3,259 complaints were made monthly on average, according to the Commercial Compliance & Consumer Protection (CCCP) sector in Dubai Economy.
The largest share of consumer complaints came from the services sector (11,342) while the electronics sector was next with 5,867.
It said the increasing number of digital transactions in Dubai was also reflected with 4,694 consumer complaints related to the e-commerce segment.
Non-compliance with the purchase terms was the issue involved in 27 percent of the consumer complaints in 2019 while others were chiefly related to refund (19 percent) and damaged products (17 percent).
Non-compliance with warranty terms, commercial fraud, and price mismatches were among the causes of the remaining 37 percent of complaints.
Emirati consumers constituted 25 percent of the total complainants in 2019 followed by Indians (16 percent), Egyptians (12 percent), Saudis (9 percent) and Jordanians (6 percent).
Mohammed Ali Rashed Lootah, CEO of CCCP, said the increasing number of consumers raising a variety of issues validate the effectiveness of the outreach and awareness campaigns of Dubai Economy, adding that the CCCP responds to consumer complaints and resolves them within a maximum of four working days.
“Dubai’s economy seeks to promote an awareness culture and an ideal environment where consumers and merchants enjoy cordial relations. Our focus is on handling consumer issues impartially and in line with the best international standards so that Dubai will be a safe and preferred place to shop for any consumer, both residents and tourists alike,” said Lootah.
Lootah also said that Dubai Economy received almost 63,356 enquiries and suggestions from consumers in 2019 in addition to complaints.
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