What this guidebook covers
The General Authority for Competition (GAC) has already taken car agents to court, and its inspectors arrive unannounced. Obstructing a raid, by refusing entry or hiding or deleting files, carries its own fine, on top of the fines for price-fixing, market sharing and abuse of dominance.
This guidebook sets out 17 standards in the order you need them: before a raid (procedures, contact persons, training, self-assessment), during it (conduct, cooperation, no deletion, document and electronic copies) and after it (reporting and follow-up).
The 17 competition law standards
| Code | Standard | Ideal fix time |
|---|---|---|
| CMP-001 | Before a raid: dawn-raid procedures available and known | 7 days |
| CMP-002 | Before a raid: dawn-raid contact persons designated | 24 hours |
| CMP-003 | Before a raid: dawn-raid preparedness before inspection | 7 days |
| CMP-004 | Before a raid: contact persons displayed at reception and gate | 72 hours |
| CMP-006 | Before a raid: contact sheet checked and updated | 24 hours |
| CMP-008 | Before a raid: site staff trained on dawn raids | 30 days |
| CMP-009 | Before a raid: dawn-raid procedures known and accessible | 72 hours |
| CMP-016 | Before a raid: documents to copy during a dawn raid | 7 days |
| CMP-017 | Before a raid: competition law self-assessment | 30 days |
| CMP-005 | During a raid: conduct during a GAC inspection | 7 days |
| CMP-010 | During a raid: cooperation with authority searches | 7 days |
| CMP-011 | During a raid: no deletion of documents | Immediate |
| CMP-012 | During a raid: handling questions outside own knowledge | 7 days |
| CMP-013 | During a raid: responding to market share questions | 7 days |
| CMP-014 | During a raid: handling requests for document copies | 7 days |
| CMP-015 | During a raid: handling requests for electronic copies | 7 days |
| CMP-007 | After a raid: post-inspection reporting and follow-up | 7 days |
How to run a dawn-raid readiness audit in Saudi Arabia, step by step
- Confirm what applies. Every site can be raided, so the audit covers every showroom, workshop, parts store and head office; N/A needs Legal's approval.
- Walk the site, standard by standard. Score each checkpoint Pass, Fail or N/A. N/A only where the standard rules it out, with the reason recorded. Ask reception and gate staff what they would do if GAC arrived, and check the procedure and contact sheet are on site.
- Capture the evidence. A pass counts only with proof captured at the time of the audit: the dawn-raid procedure on site, the contact sheet with its update date, training records and the self-assessment.
- Give every fail an owner and a fix time. Record what you saw and who owns the fix. Each standard carries an ideal fix time, from immediate to 30 days, counted from audit submission (see the table above).
- Fix it, then prove it. The site fixes the cause and uploads proof of closure; the auditor checks the proof before closing the finding.
- Re-check at the next audit. Confirm closed findings stay closed, and look for the same fail at your other sites so one gap doesn't repeat across the network.
Who this guidebook is for
- Dealer principals
- Legal and compliance teams
- Site managers
- Auditors
A reference document, not legal advice. Fines and rules change: check the current text with the regulator or your legal adviser before acting.
