ShareBy Faten Omar
KUWAIT: As part of an awareness campaign, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry tweeted some facts on the services of car rental offices under the hashtag #You_have_the_right_to, to educate citizens and residents about what they need to know when renting a car. The ministry said it is strictly forbidden for car rental offices to force clients to rent for a minimum or specific number of days. It is also forbidden to force them to hand over the rented car on specified days or refuse to pick it up on certain days.
The ministry of commerce affirmed the office is obligated to offer comprehensive insurance policy, and the consumer does not bear the cost of the daily rental value of the rented car throughout the period of its repair or its presence in the garage or agency for repair. Car rental offices are also prohibited from obligating the client to sign a bill of exchange or a blank receipt (or even it states an amount of money). The only paper to sign is the contract.
The ministry warned car rental offices against refusing to serve customers, as it is a violation that can lead to the closure of the office and the cancelation of its commercial license, noting that it will not hesitate to apply the law against violators and exercise its powers to protect the consumer.
In order to protect the consumer and ensure the implementation of laws, the ministry announced that a joint committee has been formed to monitor car rental offices in all governorates of Kuwait to ensure their compliance with the laws and decisions. The committee will conduct joint and intensive inspection campaigns of car rental offices in all governorates on an ongoing basis.
In the event that the rental office insists on the consumer signing a bill of exchange or obligating them to rent for a certain number of days, or charge a fee for the days of repairing the car due to an accident, or refusing or refraining from renting to a consumer without a legal justification, the consumer has the right to file a complaint at the nearest consumer protection center or contact 135 or via WhatsApp on 55135135.
