(MENAFN - Muscat Daily) The Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP) is investigating complaints related to unfair pricing of automobile spare parts sold by official dealers across the country.Although the sultanate allows only one importer (agency) per make of automobiles, the price differential of spare parts sold at different branches has come to the notice of PACP.Some car dealers in Buraimi, near the UAE border, sell original parts up to 36 per cent cheaper than in Muscat. However, the most blatant difference in prices is for spare parts of a popular make of Japanese automobile, the local agency of which declined to reply to Muscat Daily's queries as to why prices are so varied.Omar bin Faisal al Jahdami, director general of consumer services and marketing at PACP, said that the authority is aware of the situation. ''We're investigating this issue as we've received several complaints,'' he said. ''It isn't fair to the consumer and we'll exert pressure to have uniform prices throughout the country. We suspect that prices in Buraimi are heavily discounted to attract customers from the UAE. The problem even persists within Muscat as spare parts shops in places like Wadi Kabir and Mabela often sell at lower prices than other branches in the capital.''Companies that operate fleets are finding this practice disruptive to their businesses, said Sultan al Jabri, who worked as a fleet manager for a local tour company for several years. ''We saved a lot of money by going to Buraimi for spare parts, but all those trips were time consuming and for a medium-sized company with no dedicated person for this purpose, it definitely slowed business down,'' he said.According to Jabri, spare parts prices are significantly lower in Buraimi when compared to the rest of Oman. ''Moreover, once the spare parts shop owner knows you can bring in regular business, the prices are further reduced, which means prices elsewhere in Oman are highly inflated.''When asked about the price differential of spare parts across the country, the Japanese automaker's local dealer in the UAE said, ''Since this is outside our area of operations, we cannot comment on the business practice, but we like to ensure that within the UAE the consistency of pricing is maintained.''
