1,117 mobile phone shops closed for violating Saudization rules

 A ministerial panel has closed down 1,117 mobile phone shops and issued warnings to 174 others for violating Saudization rules.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Development has asked a special committee to take punitive action against 1,809 mobile phone shops.

The move comes after a ministerial panel comprising officials from the ministries of labor and social development, interior, commerce and investment, municipal and rural affairs, and telecommunication and information technology, inspected mobile sales and maintenance shops.

“We have found that 13,197 institutions in the sector have fulfilled the Saudization rules,” an official at the Ministry of Labor and Social Development told Al-Hayat Arabic daily.

Inspection teams conducted



41,879 visits from Dul Hijjah 1, 1437H (Sept. 2, 2016) to Rabie Al-Thani 4, 1438H (Jan. 2, 2017), the official said, adding that they covered all regions of the Kingdom to make sure all employees at mobile sales and maintenance shops are 100 percent Saudis.

The inspection tours found that 3,081 shops in the Eastern Province, 2,442 shops in the Makkah region and 1,957 shops in the Riyadh region have fulfilled Saudization conditions.

In a related development, Dr. Mohammed Al-Faleh, assistant deputy minister for inspections at the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, urged all mobile phone shop owners to comply with the Saudization conditions to avoid punitive action.

“We also request you to inform us about violations of the Saudization rules on customer care number 19911.