SMS, Twitter drive to spread consumer rights awareness

The Department of Economic Development (DED) has launched an SMS and online campaign to spread awareness on consumer rights and the existing mechanisms to receive and redress consumer complaints in Dubai. Over a million SMSes in Arabic and English will be sent to residents in Dubai as part of the month-long SMS campaign while the online campaign will be rolled out on Twitter and those websites with a high volume of traffic. A weekly Twitter session where officials from the Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection (CCCP) division of the DED directly interact with consumers and respond to their queries will also be part of the campaign. The campaign can be followed on the hashtag @Dubai_DED. “Social media and mobile phones are highly effective in reaching out to people, especially in the UAE where mobile and Internet usage is the highest in the region. The Department of Economic Development is anchoring its latest consumer rights campaign to new media,” said Mohammed Lootah, Deputy CEO, Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection (CCCP) division, DED. There were 12.36 million mobile phones in use in the UAE and mobile penetration in the country was 154 per cent, according to the data released by the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) in March 2012. The UAE also had 175,000 active twitter users by the end of June 2012, according to the Arab Social Media Report. “Mobile phones and internet provide an effective means to reach out to different demographics, especially the youth and the business community. They also offer the advantage of live, interactive communication as in the case of Twitter feeds,” added Lootah. Twitter users will receive updates on all consumer-related news, initiatives and statistics from the DED as part of the campaign. The SMS texts will include the consumer protection helpline number (600 545555) and other useful information.