New rules to be set for booming business

KUWAIT CITY, June 17: Kuwaiti Interior Ministry has requested the Ministry of Trade to stop offering licenses to new delivery firms before new rules are set for the booming business in the country, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The daily quoting reliable sources said the Interior Ministry believes that delivery business in the country has become chaotic and it’s in dire need of new regulations, especially for the food delivery service.

The Interior Ministry is responsible for the final approval of such commercial activities in Kuwait, a country of around 4.5 million people with a large expatriate community. “For its part, Ministry of Trade will not decline applications for setting up new delivery firms, but completing the related procedures depends on Interior Ministry’s approval”, the source said.

The temporary suspension of licenses for new delivery businesses comes in response to several trends the Interior Ministry is seeking to curb, said Al-Qabas quoting well-informed sources.

They disclosed that some delivery firms lure house drivers with higher salaries to illegally work for them, causing financial harm to their original employers who are Kuwaiti families.

It said irregular workers could also take advantage of their jobs as delivery boys to commit immoral acts and deliver contraband items, sources added. They noted “no official figures about the size of the delivery market in Kuwait is available”, but it’s believed to have expanded in recent years