New Executive Regulations to Protect Consumer Rights Ensure Further Protection for Travelers

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The General Authority of Civil Aviation has notified air transport companies operating in the Kingdom of the implementation of new executive regulations for the protection of consumer rights. The regulations were approved during the authority’s 20^th board meeting, chaired by the Minister of Transportation, His Highness Soliman bin Abdullah Al Hamdan. The regulations will be made effective 90 days after their publication in issue 4661 of the official newspaper on Friday 11 Jumada Al Akhirah 1438 A.H., corresponding to March 10, 2017. The authority urged consumers to access and commit to the regulations in order to better understand their rights and duties in dealing with air transport operators and ensure increased traveler protection.
 
The executive regulations have also been redrafted to protect consumer rights in line with the provisions of the Montreal 1999 treaty, as well as the Kingdom’s enforced regulations. The scope of the regulations has also been modified so as not to conflict with the scope of protection listed in the Montreal treaty. In addition, everything related to “Operators and Service Providers in Airports" has been removed from the regulations, due to the absence of a direct contractual relationship between these entities and the travelers. The title of the “Reservation Surplus” article has been modified to “Boarding Rejection and Class Downgrading” to ensure that each case can be treated separately with additional efficiency and effectiveness. Some modifications have been introduced to the “Trip Cancellation” article so as not to contradict with the international and local systems and directives in this regard, and also to further ensure better protection of the travelers’ rights in case of trip cancellation, particularly when the traveler is present at the airport right before departure.
 
The executive regulations to protect consumer rights stated that all fines in the “Fines” article are to be unified with a maximum of 50,000 SAR, complementing article 169 of the civil aviation system, and not bound to a percentage of the operator’s performance. The imposition of fines is carried out by the Commission of Civil Aviation System Violations according to the filed complaint and the operator’s handling of the complaint.
 
The regulations canceled the Care and Support articles so as not to violate the provisions of the Montreal treaty; providing care and support is the operator’s duty towards travelers and failure to do so is considered a violation requiring a fine. In addition, some editorial amendments have been made to the “Customers with Special Needs” article and the “Baggage Loss” article. Furthermore, some elements in the “General Conditions” article have been moved and placed within the provisions of appropriate topics.
 
The authority’s consumer protection department will handle the execution of the regulations and putting them into practice, as well as issuing the necessary instructions and application mechanisms. It will also supervise guiding customers and agencies working in the air transport sector in all matters related to consumer rights and their methodologies, as well as receiving any complaints about air carriers related to consumer rights.  The provisions of these regulations will apply to flights departing from the Kingdom's airports, for both national and foreign air carriers, and will also apply to arriving flights through national air carriers, unless the traveler has been compensated and cared for by the systems at the country of departure without prejudice to the provisions of international treaties acceded to the Kingdom and their amendments.
 
With valuable contribution from several specialists and experts, and in cooperation with the consumer Protection Association, GACA has taken into consideration the remarks and amendments that do not contradict with ICAO regulations.
The new Consumer Protection Regulations is going to come into force on 11/9/1438 H corresponding to 6/6/2017 G. At that date, it will supersede all previous regulations and arrangements.
The new Regulations will be available on GACA website on the date of its entry into force on the link below:

The link New Executive Regulations to Protect Consumer