Discount licence in Saudi Arabia: how to check a sale is real

What a discount licence is and who issues it

A discount licence is a permit from the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) that lets a business cut prices for a set period. The Ministry has issued it online since early 2016: in April 2016 it reported more than 1,500 licences in the first 30 days of the service, and by 2021 the total had passed 300,000 licences covering more than 150 million products. Businesses apply at sales.mc.gov.sa, pay, then print the licence and show it to customers.

The Ministry's service page for discount licences lists the conditions. The merchant must hold a commercial register, a commercial agency or a trademark registered with the Ministry. It must attach a list of the discounted products and a price list showing each price before and after the cut. The share of discounted products must be at least 50%. The fee is SAR 300 per shop, and the licence is issued instantly.

The Ministry counts two kinds of permit. In the first four days of the 2023 National Day season it issued 2,241 discount licences for shops, 436 for online stores and 2,040 promotional-offer licences, more than 4,700 in all and covering over 37 million products. The pages we read do not explain the legal line between a "discount" and a "promotional offer", so we do not draw one here (not confirmed).

The Ministry's 9 rules for any advertised sale

The Ministry published nine rules for commercial discounts in shops and online stores in September 2022 and repeated them before National Day 2023 and again on 28 February 2024, saying the aim is to curb fake and misleading offers. In our own words, they are:

1. Get the licence before advertising the discount. 2. Display it in a prominent place so a shopper can scan its barcode with a phone camera and see the business details, the discount type, the percentage and the duration. 3. Offer only the real discount that was licensed: tricks, misleading claims and price manipulation fall under the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law. 4. Write the discount as a clear "from - to" range. 5. Put a price tag on each discounted product showing the price before and after.

6. Tell shoppers the exchange and return policy that applies during the offer. 7. Keep honouring the manufacturer's warranty on promoted products. 8. Let the shopper buy the product without being forced into the promotion. 9. Follow the advertising rules for e-commerce.

Read rule 6 carefully. It obliges the store to disclose its policy; it does not by itself say that every sale item can be returned. For online orders, the E-Commerce Law gives a separate right: Article 13 lets you cancel within 7 days of receiving an unused product, and its list of exceptions does not name discounted goods, although the implementing regulations may add cases.

How to check a sale in a shop

Look for the printed licence near the entrance or the till. Open your phone camera and point it at the barcode on the licence. The Ministry says the result shows the type and percentage of the discount, its duration, and the business's basic details. Then compare three things. First, the business name: it should match the shop you are standing in. Second, the percentage: a poster that says 70% is suspect if the licence range stops at 50%. Third, the dates: a sale still running after the licence end date is outside its permit.

Then check the tags on the items you want. Each discounted product should show both the old and the new price. After National Day 2025, when it had issued 4,218 licences for 3.5 million products, the Ministry also told shoppers to read the exchange and return policy and to keep their receipts. A receipt is what you will need if you report the store later.

How to check a sale online

The rules apply to online stores as well as shops: the Ministry names "the business or the online store" in rules 1 and 2. What the pages we read do not say is where on a website the licence must appear, only that it must be in a prominent place (not confirmed). In practice, look on the sale page, in the banner and in the site footer for a licence image with a barcode. On a computer you can scan it with your phone; on a phone, save the image and use the scan feature in your photo app.

The E-Commerce Law adds weight to what an online store advertises. Under Article 10 an electronic advertisement is part of the contract and binding on the seller. Article 11 bans false offers and claims that mislead the consumer. Under Article 12 the Ministry can order the seller to fix the ad or withdraw it within one day of being notified, and Article 18 allows a warning, a fine of up to SAR 1,000,000, suspension of the activity or blocking of the store.

Voucher codes are a grey area. None of the Ministry pages we read says whether a store's own promo code, as opposed to an advertised sale, needs its own discount licence, so we treat that as not confirmed. The same rules apply whether the sale is on noon, Amazon.sa, extra or Jarir: what the store advertises and what the licence says should match.

Ministry sale seasons and the annual balance

Each business has an annual balance of discount days. During the Ministry's announced seasons, stores can get seasonal licences that do not use up days from that balance, which is why so many sales cluster in the same weeks. The Ministry does not state the size of the balance on the pages we read; press reports of "three times a year" are not confirmed.

The seasons the Ministry announced recently: National Day, 16 to 30 September in both 2024 and 2025. Ramadan and Eid 2025, 9 February to 3 April 2025. Ramadan 2026, from 13 Sha'ban 1447 until after Eid al-Fitr, with 1,987 licences for more than 5 million products (the Ministry gave only the Hijri start date). Founding Day 2024, 15 to 29 February 2024. And the three-month "Takhfeedat 2026" season, 1 August to 31 October 2026. During September and October 2026 the Ministry ran more than 40,000 inspection rounds checking licences, percentages, price tags or electronic price readers, and return policies.

When a sale looks wrong: how to report it

The Ministry's channels are the unified number 1900 and the «بلاغ تجاري» (Commercial Complaint) app. Have the store name, the date, a photo or screenshot of the ad and the licence (or of its absence), and your receipt or order number ready.

For online stores there is one condition to know first. Since 3 September 2023, the app and the 1900 centre act on reports about online stores verified on the Business Platform of the Saudi Business Center, which replaced Maroof. Check a store before you pay at eauthenticate.saudibusiness.gov.sa/inquiry. Verified stores must use commercial bank accounts, and the Ministry asks shoppers never to transfer money to a personal account.

Questions shoppers ask