A vehicle will retain its warranty even if some of its parts are damaged due to repair work done at a third party workshop, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) has said in a statement.
However, the warranty cover for the affected parts, and not the entire vehicle, can be lost in such cases, the ministry said.
An authorised distributor can cancel the warranty on the affected parts after it is able to prove that the damage has been caused by the work done at an independent workshop and not at the dealer's service centre, it said.
Highlighting the benefits of the decision to let consumers get their vehicles repaired or serviced at approved third-party automobile workshops , the ministry said one of the advantages is curbing any unreasonable or unjustifiable hike in prices and service charges. "This will be possible due to competition in the market between these approved garages and those of the distributors."
Also, the workshops would be able to offer all maintenance services and works as provided by those of the distributors, giving consumers the freedom to choose the place where they want to get the required periodical maintenance or repairs conducted without losing or undermining their right to the warranty cover.
This will eventually spare consumers the trouble of dealing with long waiting periods at the distributors’ workshops. They can avail of the best possible service either at the approved garages or dealers’ workshops , without forfeiting any of their warranty rights.
The MEC has also urged consumers to keep invoices and bills for all maintenance and repairs done at the approved third-party workshops for any future references.
Last month, a Gulf Times report said the MEC had stressed at a meeting that all authorised distributors of automobiles in Qatar should support private workshops in their quest to become approved service centres.
The steps to implement HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce's Decision No 418 for 2016, regarding the terms and conditions regulating the grant of licence for third-party workshops and the support of fair competition in the field of after-sales services, were also discussed at the meeting.
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) has received written consent from some two dozen automobile distributors who have agreed to comply with a nine-clause initiative to ease warranty terms in accordance with the provisions of Law Number 19 of 2006.