The paper demonstrates that the reason of SERS on dielectrics and semiconductors is the enhancement of the electric field in the regions of the tops of the surface roughness with a very large positive curvature. The enhancement in many ways depends on the dielectric constant of the substrate and is stronger for a larger dielectric constant. The theoretical result points out that on dielectrics and semiconductors it is weaker than on metals. Experimentally it is demonstrated that there are forbidden lines on hydroquinone, adsorbed on TiO2, which indicate on the existence of strong quadrupole light-molecule interaction in such systems. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.