Omani Consumer Law: 5 Things You Might Not Know

In 2014 Oman promulgated, by Royal Decree No. 66/2014, the new Consumer Protection Law setting out the general requirements for consumer protection and aiming to combat monopolistic behavior towards consumers.

Furthermore, in March 2017 the Public Authority for Consumer Protection (hereinafter, the "PACP") issued Decision No. 77/2017 (hereinafter, the "Regulation") aimed to supplement the above mentioned law on Consumer Protection. These bylaws intend to provide for interpretation and will serve as a tool to even greater consumer protection. The Regulation is divided into five sections consisting of 52 articles in total including not only the rights of consumers but also the obligations of the supplier. But what does the Omani Consumer Protection entail in reality? Here are five things you might not know about the Omani Consumer Law:

Firstly, the Regulation, rather self-evidently, strengthens the position of the consumer in commercial situations. If a good falling within the list provided for in appendix 2 of the Regulation fails to meet the purpose for which the good is used, is damaged or if it does not conform to the standards set out in the good specification the consumer is entitled to certain remedies. The consumer has the right to repair the good free of charge, to exchange it or as a last resort measure have the contract rescinded and thus return the good to the supplier. These remedies do not come without any restrictions however, the consumer must be able to provide the purchase receipt as well as proving that any flaws are not caused by the consumer him/her-self.

If we however briefly look at consumer protection legislation around the world it is possible to see certain similarities with, for instance, the European Consumer Protection Legislation. However, we can also see that the European Legislation provides for a much more extensive protection consisting of for example presumptions that damage in goods that are displayed within six months after the purchase are presumed to be damages allocated to the supplier, see further in Directive 1999/44/EC.

Secondly, the consumer is not only entitled to the remedies as stipulated in the paragraph above, but is as well entitled to compensation for damages as a result of purchasing a faulty good in the event the consumer returns the good or exchanges it for recovering its value. This remedy is although also subject to the pre-conditions mentioned in the paragraph above regarding...