“They see asking for the invoice as a powerful weapon to deter retailers from resorting to unreasonable price hikes for essential goods on the pretext of the global rise in prices," the campaigners said in a written statement to Al-Eqtisadiah daily.

Saving the receipt of purchase is useful for registering formal complaints with the Ministry of Commerce, too, the consumer campaigners added.

Salah said he was struck with the idea of launching this campaign after noticing exorbitant price hikes by some shoppers. “I was about to become a victim of exploitation from the sales clerk of a popular pharmacy chain when I bought a bottle of baby formula," he said. "I was asked to pay 55 riyals for the bottle instead of the market price of 47. When I asked for an invoice for the purchase in order to file a complaint with the ministry, the cashier was embarrassed and started giving an excuse that his 'mistake' was a computer error.”

Salah said this campaign is aimed at recruiting Saudis and expats alike in the effort to ensure honesty in the marketplace in light of global prices for goods that are edging upward.

“This is in a way ensuring active involvement of both Saudis and foreigners in lending a helping hand to the authorities in combating (illegitimate) price rises," he said. "The Ministry of Commerce can take stringent punitive measures against those who resort to exorbitant price rises if the public is vigilant and alerts the ministry about unscrupulous and greedy traders who charge high prices without justification.”

The ministry has issued public warnings that it would pursue punitive measures against price fixing. Recently, officials punished a number of animal-feed distributors in the north of the Kingdom for swindling shepherds with unjustified price hikes in this essential commodity. A similar move was taken against cement dealers.

Yasmin Muhammad, a social activist, underscored the important role of the public in supporting the campaign to fight unjustified price hikes, especially by retailers of consumer goods. She said that asking for a receipt when making any purchase is an effective deterrent against instances of swindling that take place at points of sale.