Invoice...or heavy fine!

[newcastle]

SHOPS WILL NOW BE FINED UP TO EGP ONE MILLION FOR SELLING WITHOUT AN INVOICE

Shops will now be required to give their customers an invoice, or receive a fine of up to EGP one million. If the offense is repeated, the penalty will be doubled. The invoice must contain many specific details about the product and the date of purchase.

The new fine is being implemented to protect the rights of consumers, who by law are allowed to return their purchase within 14 days in the event of defects (with some exceptions, like clothes).



This should be fun

Of all the recent “laws” ...with draconian penalties.... this takes the biscuit.

[Teddyboy]

"The new fine is being implemented to protect the rights of consumers"

Much more likely to help the collector of taxes, methinks! All those lovely copy invoices to go through, they'll be in 7th Heaven.

[DJKeefy]

Won't work in Egypt, look at the UK where you can return goods within 30 days if you don't like it or is faulty, people take advantage and get clothes for example, wear them and return them and get a full refund, can you imagine something like this in Egypt, all the Egyptians would definitely abuse this

At the moment it does say exemptions like clothes, which will probably change in the future, but for now 14 days with a new phone for example, the Egyptians will swap they phones all the time just to show off, like they like to do, might be a problem.

Am I being over pessimistic?

[newcastle]

I expect this is all about collection of VAT....which Egypt introduced last year. I doubt it applies to small time vendors.

Since when has Egypt cared about consumer rights?

The article...typical of Cairo Scene...is rather short on detail or context. In fact , it could be a load of cobblers!

[Dusak]

In all the years that I've lived here I have only had to return to a shop on three occasions to exchange faulty goods. The reply still rings in my ears.." you didn't buy this from my shop" so now you will have the receipt to dangle under his nose to prove purchase from his emporium of Chinese junk only to be told that the receipt says you purchased 4 kilos of chicken feed, he doesn't sell chicken feed, only electrical items. The life of a foreigner living here is not a happy one at times. This rule of the shopkeepers denial also applies to Egyptians, as my friend testifies to.

[DJKeefy]

Your right Dusak it applies to Egyptians too, my bawab went to buy a new water heater for me, I had asked the bawab "make sure you get a receipt" but the shop owner refused to give him one, the box was sealed but when we opened it both big red buttons were broke off, of course the bawab was saying it was not a problem, it will still work, me being European did not accept this and made him take it back to the shop, the guy refused to take it back saying we had opened the box, how could we see if its broke or not if we can not open the box?, he then started saying that we had swapped the new one for a broken one, in the end I had to go to the shop myself, after threatening him with the police he replaced it, thankfully the new one was ok.

I do understand them though, the Egyptian do play it on big time, I always wondered why they bothered to test the light bulbs when you bought them, I now know why