Saudi Ministry Lists Penalties for Private Sector Firms Ignoring COVID Protocols

Riyadh: The Ministry of Interior issued a statement on Thursday listing the penalties for private sector establishments that violate preventive measures against COVID Protocols.

The Saudi Arabia’s ministry also clarified several actions that are considered violations of preventive protocols approved by the competent authority to confront the COVID-19 pandemic.

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These violations include:

1. Not checking the health status of individuals through the Tawakkalna app.
2. Allowing unvaccinated individuals to enter the premises.
3. Failure to obligate employees to conduct examinations.
4. Allowing in employees who refuse to wear a medical mask, a cloth mask, or whatever covers the nose and mouth.
5. Allow entry to a person who has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus
6. Failure to provide sterilizers and disinfectants inside the facility.
7. Failure to disinfect and sterilize shopping baskets and carts after use in supermarkets.
8. Non-compliance with disinfection facilities and surfaces inside the establishments.

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Violation Categories

The ministry confirmed that violation tickets would be issued to violators according to the establishment’s size and the number of employees. 

These are divided into four categories,

1. Micro establishment, with 1 to 5 employees. The responsible individual will be fined SR 10,000 for the violation.
2. The small-sized establishment, with 6 to 49 employees. The responsible individual will be fined SR 20,000 for the violation.
3. Medium-sized establishment, with 50 to 249 employees. The responsible individual will be fined SR 50,000 for the violation.
4. The big-scale establishment, with 250 or more employees. The responsible individual will be fined SR 100,000 for the violation.

The penalty will double for repeat offenses and could reach SR200,000. The ministry added that the organization within its supervisory scope would also face closure for a period not exceeding six months.

The ministry confirmed a person responsible for a facility would be penalized according to the specified size of the organization.

Additionally

In case of repeat the violations of COVID Protocols, the Public Prosecution will consider imprisonment, following the legal procedures.

The Saudi Arabia’s ministry noted that restaurants and cafes are exempted from the closure period, as stated earlier. For them, the closure period will be on an hourly basis.

1. In a single violation, the closure period will be for one hour only.
2. For the second violation, the closure period will be 48 hours.
3. The closing period will be one week for the third time.
4. Repeating the violation for the fourth time will bring about two weeks closure.
5. The shutdown will be for one entire month on the fifth violation.