Saudi Ministry of Commerce’s supervisory teams have made pre-emptive field checks across the kingdom to verify whether fuel stations were raising prices, before the announcement of the monthly price review, or whether these fuel stations were refraining from serving motorists. This was revealed by the ministry’s spokesman, Abdel Hussein Al Hussein.

Al Hussein said: “Some 23 petrol stations were booked after they refrained from filling for motorists. Accordingly, the ministry has obligated all the violating stations to reopen the filling pumps to consumers immediately, as well as imposing fines for raising the price of fuel on the offenders according to the anti-commercial fraud system.”

Al Hussein reaffirmed that the Ministry of Commerce continues to play its role in monitoring fuel prices displayed at petrol stations, receiving and initiating consumer complaints in the event of any price differences and enforcing penalties on non-compliant stations.

The anti-commercial fraud system provides for penalties of up to three years in prison and fines of up to one million riyals or both on fuel stations, apart from defaming the violator in two local newspapers at its expense, removing the violating workers and suspending the offending business, Al Hussein added.