"Business"It is necessary to obtain a license to organize professional competitions

The Ministry of Commerce stressed that commercial establishments and electronic stores wishing to hold commercial competitions must obtain a license from the ministry, and that holding commercial competitions without obtaining a license is a violation of the anti-commercial fraud system.

He explained that the license to hold commercial competitions includes a number of requirements that commercial establishments must comply with, and these requirements are: – License to hold competitions twice a year, provided that the duration of the competition does not exceed (60) days each time, and specifying the mechanism of the competition and clarifying the method of participating in it, determining the prizes to be awarded to the winners of the competition, and providing proof of ownership of the commercial establishment.

The licence must include the name of the licensee of the contest and its start and end dates, and also state the condition of purchase to participate in the contest, or placing a contest coupon inside the item, and the prevailing price of the item must not be increased during the contest. It is also not permissible for the person to whom the licence was issued or his children, spouse, parents or his employees to participate in the contest and must distribute the prizes to the winners within the maximum period. (7) The Ministry's licence number must be mentioned in any announcement of the contest from the date of collation of the results.

The Ministry monitors compliance of commercial establishments and electronic stores with the requirements for organizing commercial competitions, monitors violations, regulates fictitious and misleading competitions for consumers, and refers violators to public prosecution to complete the implementation of legal procedures against them.

According to the commercial anti-fraud system, violators of the system are punished with up to three years in prison, a fine of up to one million riyals, or both penalties, and defamation of violators after effective judicial decisions are issued by the competent courts.