RIYADH: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry re-confirmed on Tuesday that auto agencies that sell vehicles in the Kingdom should stand committed to offer after sales services and supply required spare parts according to the sales contract between the concerned parties.

According to Commercial Agencies Law and its Implementing Regulations, an MCI official pointed out that the commercial agents, distributors and importers should be committed to provide the necessary spare parts, maintenance and warranty. Therefore, he said the commercial agent, distributor and car importer are obliged to provide the necessary maintenance and warranty for the items, even if the consumer has done the maintenance at a third party, unless it is proved, with certainty, that such maintenance has caused damage to the item, not to be covered by warranty.

The ministry stressed that it would follow-up and check how far the auto agencies are committed to the provisions of the Implementing Regulations of the Commercial Agencies Law, which aims to organize the relationship among agents and distributors on one hand, and the consumers on the other hand.

“This is in line with the provisions of the Commercial Agencies Law, which takes into account the rights of all parties,” the official said.

In case the spare parts are not available in the market, they should be provided within 14 days from the date of request, with the exception that the parts made specifically for the consumer or the parts with special technical specifications, the agent then would have written agreement with the consumer to provide the needed parts within a reasonable period.

It was pointed out that any condition, contrary to the Commercial Agencies Law and its implementing regulations, would be void, stressing that its continuous follow-up of all received comments on Commercial Agencies and on providing spare parts.

As part of the ministry’s keenness and interest to punish the violators, and to preserve the rights of consumers, the ministry has been applying the penalties provided for under the Commercial Agencies Law on companies and agencies by publishing the content of the verdict in the local press at the expense of the violator.

The ministry is also urging consumers to cooperate and report violating firms through the toll free number 1900 or through commercial notification.

More than 50 percent of vehicle users in the Kingdom are not satisfied with the after sales services of most auto agencies in the Kingdom.

In a survey conducted by the ministry to evaluate the performance of automobile companies, it was revealed that 56.9 percent of the 20,000 motorists involved in the study were not happy with the services rendered by these agencies.

In a similar survey last year, the dissatisfaction rate was 67 per cent. This year, the report said the rate dropped by 12 percent which is a sign of improvement over the previous year.