KUWAIT CITY, Aug 11: The owners of consumer delivery companies are worried about going bankrupt and falling into more debt due to the ill-considered decisions of some government agencies and the false information that some officials provide to the concerned ministers. In a meeting held Saturday, the owners called for a thorough review of the decisions and circulars issued recently, which have negatively affected their commercial activity.

Chairman of the Delivery Company Owners Committee Abdulaziz Abdullatif Bandar said the license holders are facing problems because most of the decisions and circulars are baseless and verbal. He pointed out that some laws change within a short period; thereby, disrupting their business, increasing their debts, and harming some companies, up to the point of declaring bankruptcy. He disclosed some commercial licenses for delivering orders have not been used since their issuance due to the Ministry of Interior’s non-implementation of Article Seven of Ministerial Resolution No. 271/2020; through which it should have asked its commerce counterpart to cancel the licenses of those proven to have committed violations and those who are not operating as per the license.

He warned that the continuation of this situation could lead to the creation of a black market for trading licenses; considering the number of delivery licenses issued until this month totaled 1,452. He added that the majority of the owners of delivery companies are citizens registered under the Fifth Chapter of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Law. He stated these citizens do not have capital to support their commercial presence and some of them receive financial support from the National Fund for SMEs, the Industrial Bank or commercial banks.

He asserted that any decision or circular issued without referring to the license holders could hurt the delivery service. He called on decision-makers to sit with the committees specialized in delivery service before taking any decision, issuing a law or developing visions to clarify some aspects that negatively affect delivery activities, considering the huge impact on the labor market.

He urged the interior minister to listen to his young Kuwaiti sons -- owners of SMEs, remove obstacles on their path and implement the law without barriers or intermediaries; indicating many topics are referred to decision-makers in an inaccurate manner. He said the steps that some ministries intend to take in determining the types of vehicles and conditions for new licenses contribute to increasing traffic congestion and negatively affects the population structure, stressing this contradicts the Ministry of Interior’s directive to amend the population structure and find solutions to traffic congestion. He pointed out that the government agencies’ directive to determine the type of vehicles and reduce the number of vehicles will destroy the delivery market. He said the license holders have been committed to all the conditions set for them; such as preserving food and food supplies during delivery by using modern, clean containers and vehicles that comply with the regulations set by the Public Authority for Food and Nutrition (PAFN).

He added the current fl eet of vehicles was established in accordance with the law of the Ministry of Interior and in compliance with the rules of the concerned government agencies. He said this increased the debts of the owners of delivery companies; indicating that specifying other types of vehicles as a condition for licensing could create a black market and illegal labor to deliver orders and raise prices for society in general. He continued saying that increasing the costs for delivery companies in different ways and by different State institutions contribute to raising the prices for consumers. He added the losers are the citizens and expatriates – the license holders and delivery service clients

By Fares Al-Abdan
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff