Delivery company owners warn of bankruptcy from poor government decisions

• Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and Minister of Interior, urged young Kuwaiti entrepreneurs and owners of SMEs to voice their concerns, remove obstacles, and ensure that the law is implemented without barriers or intermediaries.

Owners of consumer delivery companies have cautioned that poorly considered decisions by some government agencies and misleading information from certain officials to ministers could push their businesses towards bankruptcy and deeper debt, according to Al Jarida newspaper.

In a meeting, company owners called for a review of recently issued decisions and circulars, which they believe are hindering their operations and negatively affecting their commercial activities.

Abdul Aziz Bandar, Chairman of the Delivery Companies Owners Committee, stated that many of the decisions and circulars are baseless and verbal, and that laws frequently change shortly after being established. This instability disrupts business operations, increases debt, and leads some companies to bankruptcy.

Bandar also noted that some commercial delivery licenses have not been used since their issuance, due to the Ministry of Interior’s failure to enforce Article Seven of Ministerial Resolution No. (271-2020).

This article requires the Ministry of Commerce to cancel licenses that are either non-compliant or not actively used. He warned that the current situation fosters a black market for trading these licenses, with 1,452 delivery licenses still in effect as of this August.

Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and Minister of Interior, urged young Kuwaiti entrepreneurs and owners of small and medium enterprises to voice their concerns, remove obstacles, and ensure that the law is implemented without barriers or intermediaries.

He noted that the government’s decision to specify and reduce the number of vehicles could harm the delivery market, despite license holders’ adherence to recently imposed conditions. These conditions include using modern, clean containers and vehicles that meet the General Food Authority’s requirements for preserving food and supplies during transportation.

Abdul Aziz Bandar, Chairman of the Delivery Companies Owners Committee, told Al-Jarida newspaper that the Traffic Committee at the Ministry of Interior had, by virtue of a decision issued in 2022, set the number of vehicles for each delivery company at 90, without specifying their type. However, based on verbal decisions, a classification was later introduced, stipulating 30 motorcycles and 60 vehicles. Bandar noted that these changes have hindered company operations.

He also pointed out that company owners were not invited to meetings held by government committees to discuss labor market mechanisms for delivering consumer orders.

He highlighted that there had been discussions about the committee’s intention to alter work mechanisms and mandate closed vehicles for deliveries, which will be challenging to implement in the near future.