KUWAIT CITY, July 6: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is currently looking into the fees charged by delivery companies and their connection to the increase in prices, reports Al-Anba daily. Minister of Commerce and Industry Fahd Al-Shariaan has instructed the Commercial Control and Consumer Protection Sector to immediately conduct a study and submit its report on the complaint about the exorbitant fees charged by delivery companies, impact on the consumers and increase in prices.

The minister took this step in response to a complaint that delivery companies take a large percentage of the purchase amount from restaurants that use their websites to market products, in addition to KD1 delivery fee; hence, they take money from both the restaurants and customers. The complainant stressed the need for official intervention, because it is not possible to leave the market in this situation; describing the situation as a form of monopoly that has nothing to do with supply and demand factors, and resulted in a remarkable price hike on the part of consumers. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh,Arab Times Staff