The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) has ordered the closure of a fuel station in Lusail for one week for issuing invoices with incomplete and incorrect information.

The move follows a circular issued by the MEC to all fuel stations in the country in January, requiring them to issue accurate invoices to customers.

In this regard, the ministry has registered 11 consumer rights violations against a number of fuel stations that have failed to abide by the circular, according to a statement.

Last month, Gulf Times reported that the MEC had urged fuel station owners to closely monitor their employees after inspectors from the Consumer Protection Department detected serious irregularities, including issuing of inflated invoices.

The ministry's inspectors are conducting intensive inspection campaigns to ensure the compliance of service providers with the MEC's instructions to issue complete and proper invoices.

This is in accordance with Article 8 of Law No 8 for 2008 on consumer protection, which stresses the right of a consumer to be issued a proper invoice, indicating the type of commodity, its price and purchased quantity and other data as stipulated in the law.

The move is aimed at protecting the rights of vehicle owners as it has come to light that a section of employees at some fuel stations have colluded with certain drivers to issue overvalued invoices. This is done so that the drivers can deceive the vehicle owners and pocket the difference.

According to the law, the information provided in an invoice should include the name of the supplier, his address and date of the invoice, the type of commodity or service and core description, unit of sale, quantity or number of units sold, condition of the commodity if used, price of the commodity or servicing fee, delivery date, signature or seal of the supplier or his legal representative and serial number of the commodity and its content.