The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) has urged petrol station owners to closely monitor their employees after inspectors of the Consumer Protection Department detected serious irregularities, including issuing of inflated invoices.

All relevant authorities have been instructed to penalise petrol stations that issue incorrect invoices to motorists in order to prevent any violation of consumer rights, the ministry said in a statement issued.

Following the spotting of consumer rights violations, the ministry has penalised eight petrol stations for offences such as issuing bills showing the price of fuel but without the quantity purchased as well as mentioning prices beyond the actual quantity of fuel pumped into vehicles.

During inspection by the MEC officials, it was found that certain petrol station employees have colluded with drivers by providing them with overvalued invoices so as to deceive the owners of the vehicles and pocket the difference.

In a circular issued to owners of petrol stations, the ministry highlighted the serious irregularities detected by law enforcement officers of the departments of Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud and said these were "committed intentionally" by employees. The offences pertained to the violation of the rights of vehicle owners, the ministry said.

"Ministry inspectors have also found solid evidence of daily cases of price manipulation at petrol stations across the country due to the large number of privately owned vehicle drivers in addition to the difficulty in monitoring their financial transactions in terms of fuel needed to operate vehicles; particularly when vehicle owners are female or elderly," the MEC said.

The sanctioned petrol stations will be subject to stricter penalties in case of recurring violations, the ministry warned.

Depending on the recurrence and severity of violations, penalties could include the temporary suspension of services and the publication of the incident in dailies as well as affixing notices on the exterior of outlets.

The Ministry will also refer cases of fraud to security agencies who will track violators including employees or petrol station owners, found to be co-operating with the perpetrators.

Showing its determination to implement the rules, the ministry has stressed that it would not accept any excuse relating to the manipulation of invoices, affirming that enforcement officers of the Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud department would carry out inspection campaigns to ensure the compliance of petrol stations with the circular.

"All incomplete invoices will be treated as a violation of Law No. (8) of 2008 , which will subject violators to penalties including imprisonment for a period up to two years, a minimum fine of QR 3,000 that can go up to QR1 mn , or one of the two penalties.

Urging petrol stations to abide by rules in accordance with Article (8) of Law No. (8) of 2008 , the ministry said it was the right of a consumer to be issued a dated invoice mentioning the type of the commodity, its price and purchased quantity and any other data stipulated in the law.

Article (7) of the law outlines information that should be included in the invoice as follows: The name of the supplier, his address and date of the invoice, the type of the commodity or service and core description, unit of sale, the quantity or number of units sold, the condition of the commodity if used, the price of the commodity or servicing fee, the delivery date, the signature or seal of the supplier or his legal representative and the serial number of the commodity and its content.

The MEC has urged consumers to report violations, complaints or suggestions through communication channels such as hotline: 16001 and email: info@mec.gov.qa