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Tribune News Network
Doha
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) has launched an initiative to break the monopoly of dealers in respect of after-sales service and promote fair competition in the automobile sector.
The move comes as part of efforts under Ministerial Decree No. 418 of 2016 on conditions and controls relating to granting of licence for establishing maintenance workshops that do not belong to the car dealer.
The initiative will ensure the right of a customer to get his vehicle fixed at a workshop of his choice.
The ministry said there are three types of workshops where a customer can avail of services ” workshops that belong to the car dealer, workshops other than the ones owned by the car dealer and accredited by the manufacturer for carrying out work of repairing vehicles bearing its brand, and independent workshops and garages.
The MEC has obliged car dealers not to link warranty services with the necessity of carrying out maintenance work in their workshops only so as to ensure the customer's freedom to choose any workshop for getting their vehicles fixed during the warranty period.
The customer has the right to carry out maintenance or repair works in a workshop of his choice on the condition that he should keep receipts of the works.
The car dealer should not cancel warranty except for the part or parts proven to be damaged due to maintenance work in an independent workshop.
Moreover, the ministry has cancelled the ambiguous phrases from the warranty book to allow customers to get their cars serviced or repaired at a workshop of their choice during the warranty period.
The ministry has also obliged the car dealer not to make any amendments to the warranty manuals without obtaining approval from it.
As part of the initiative, approved and independent workshops have the freedom of supplying spare parts from any source.
The manufacturer or its local agent car dealer may not include any clause that would restrict the right of the workshops to choose the entity that will provide them with spare parts.
The local car dealer or its network of distributors has no right to discriminate in terms of spare parts between the approved workshops and the workshops affiliated to the agent.
The vehicle owner can use equivalent auto spare parts that have the same specifications as the genuine ones provided that they are approved by the manufacturer.
