KUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) has suspended more than 600 commercial licenses that were issued with exemptions from mandatory conditions, particularly the required approvals from Kuwait Municipality and the Fire Department before issuance.

Four ministry employees, currently under investigation, have been stripped of their authority to issue commercial licenses, while other officials have also been questioned as part of the inquiry.

According to sources familiar with the matter, MoCI officials, following extensive meetings with counterparts from the Ministry of Interior and Kuwait Municipality, conducted a thorough review of all commercial licenses granted with exceptions from 2021 through August 2025 The inspection revealed over 600 licenses that lacked the necessary municipal approval, prompting MoCI to place a “block” on all transactions related to these licenses, including amendments.

The sources noted that the affected licenses pertain mostly to individual and partnership commercial activities issued between 2021 and 2023, spread across various regions of Kuwait rather than being limited to Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh and Khaitan.

This wide-ranging procedural campaign to suspend exempt licenses follows a recent security operation by the Criminal Security Sector’s General Department of Criminal Investigations on Friday. The operation, conducted under the supervision of First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef, targeted violations in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh and Khaitan. Authorities documented 19 commercial stores operating in violation of licensing conditions, including unlicensed commercial activities.

The Ministry of Commerce has since referred the suspended licenses back to Kuwait Municipality for reassessment. The municipality will determine whether license holders can rectify their status by meeting licensing requirements or if the licenses should be transferred to compliant locations, especially in cases where the license was issued for a private residence.

The investigation and audit department is probing any suspected forgery or fraud related to the breach of licensing regulations and procedural requirements.

Following the security campaign, regulatory authorities from the Ministries of Interior, Commerce, and Kuwait Municipality convened to examine the licenses granted with exemptions. The inquiry revealed that some ministry employees used their delegated powers to issue licenses with exemptions, despite the mandatory requirement of municipal approval.

Sources confirmed that many of these licenses were issued without the necessary municipal approval, violating clear regulations and procedural guidelines.

Further tracking by MoCI uncovered that some exemptions were based on manual approvals from the Kuwait Municipality, even though an electronic approval system was operational during the relevant period. This raised suspicions, prompting a separate investigation to verify whether these manual approvals were genuine or potentially forged.

Officials from MoCI and Kuwait Municipality are coordinating a joint audit of all licenses failing to meet regulatory requirements, including those with manual approvals. This effort aims to prepare legal and procedural actions against license holders and ministry employees responsible for violations.

To reinforce governance over commercial license issuance, sources indicated that MoCI plans to suspend the practice of granting lower-level employees the authority to approve license exemptions. Instead, only senior officials with positions of director level or above will retain such powers, as part of measures to prevent future abuses.