The Saudi government has recently enabled its Tourism Ministry to control relevant violations in the sanctions list for municipal violations.
Official information revealed that the Tourism Ministry and the Ministry of Municipal Rural Affairs and Housing had been granted the power to agree on specifying violations referred to in Article Three of the regulations - related to tourism - which are set according to what was stated in the third paragraph, and the imposition of the stipulated penalties.
This came upon the request of the Tourism Ministry to enable it to control violations in the sanctions list for municipal violations related to its jurisdiction.
Article Three - according to the regulation, a copy of which was reviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat - includes three paragraphs:
The first of them is that a schedule is issued by a decision of the minister in which the violations and the corresponding penalties stipulated in Article Two (related to penalties) of the regulations that are applied to each of them are determined, according to a clear governance mechanism in which the gradation is taken into account in determining the amount of the penalty for the violation, and its proportionality with its type, frequency and its impact.
The second paragraph of Article Three stipulates that the schedule shall specify the violations in which the two penalties stipulated in the first and second paragraphs of Article Two of the regulations may be doubled, in the event of a repeat violation by increasing their maximum limits, provided that they do not exceed the double.
The third paragraph of the article shows the obligation of the violator - within a specified period - to remove the violation, return the situation to what it was before its occurrence, and repair the damage resulting from it, at their expense, taking into account that in the event of the expiry of the specified period without doing what he was obligated to do, a new violation will be charged against them.
According to Article Two, whoever commits one or more violations shall be punished with a fine not exceeding 500,000 riyals ($133,000), and not exceeding 1 million riyals ($266,000) if it is serious.
The penalty may be doubled in case of repetition.
Article Two gives the power to close the shop or establishment for a period not exceeding two weeks, as well as double the penalty in case of repetition, cancel the license, and prevent them from practicing the activity for a period not exceeding two years if it is severe.
