Failure to register rent contract with Ejari result in fines for tenants from 2012

Registration of rental contracts with the Dubai Land Department (DLD) will soon become a pre-requisite to accessing other government services, according to a top property regulator.

The Land Department and its regulatory body — the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera) — has been trying to implement the system through a registration portal — Ejari.com.

The move will help the government to monitor the property market and offer better insights through its rental index while ensuring all tenants pay their housing fees regularly. Currently, these contracts are processed by the landlords. The rental data fed into the system is used to calculate the housing fees that are included on utility bills.

Registration of residential and commercial lease contracts through Ejari is mandatory and failure to comply may lead to a penalty, Gulf News has learnt. A Dh160 fee is chargeable to register a lease agreement with Ejari. The fee is payable by either party to the agreement.

The Ejari registration will be mandatory to obtain utility services. If the contract is not registered, transactions could be delayed at several government departments, principally the Dubai Economic Department and the Residence and Foreign Affairs Department.

Trends indicated by the Ejari data will be reflected in the rental index and will have a crucial role in updating it. Information about rental levels in specific areas, the demographic base and the kinds of property formats in favour can also be found.

"The decision is effective on every new contract to be signed in 2012; however, Rera is prepared to allow individual tenants with existing contracts to wait until these are due for renewal before seeking registration," Bin Ghulaita added.

"This regulation was announced a year ago and notices were sent out to parties concerned that the new rule would be effective by 2012. The Department will not accept any contract unless it is registered with Ejari."

According to the Rera, the rule applies to landlords and tenants in Dubai, real estate companies entrusted with the management of realty projects on behalf of others, as well as official agents of owners of commercial complexes and shopping centres.

Electronic images of cheques can be used as proof before UAE courts of law

The UAE Central Bank said yesterday that it had obtained a decision by the Ministerial Council for Services to include images of cheques sent to the Central Bank electronically, among tools that are subject to the provisions of Federal Law No. (1) of 2006 concerning electronic transactions and commerce, and as document of proof before the UAE courts of law.

The decision based on the text of Article 2.3 of the law, also said electronic images can be accepted provided that the original cheques are kept with banks for cheque forgery case proceedings, as needed.

"Therefore, it has been decided to stop the sorting and exchange process of physical cheques at the Central Bank in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, starting from 29 February 2012," said a circular sent to all banks operating in the UAE.

Image cheque clearance system (ICCS) member banks have to keep the original cheques deposited with them for collection and stamp them with the following statement, before sending the cheque's images electronically to the Image Cheque Clearing System, said the circular: "True copy of cheque deposited with [xxxx] that undertakes to present it upon request."

The enhancement of the electronic image cheque clearing procedures will cut costs relating to cheque clearing and improve collection time.

The Central Bank also asked all banks to comply with the above requirements, keep the original cheques deposited with them for the legally binding period and present them upon request, starting from February 29.

The Central Bank said it is constantly endeavouring to develop and enhance services provided to banks and other financial institutions operating in the UAE.

Seatbelts mandatory for rear seat passengers in Dubai

The General Department of Traffic of Dubai Police has prepared a new Bill which, once approved, will make it mandatory for rear passengers in vehicles to wear seat belts, according to Arabic dailies this morning.

The proposal says it will be the driver’s responsibility to ensure that all passengers in a vehicle are buckled up, and in the event of failing to do so, the driver may be fined.

Lt. General Engineer Mohammed Saif Al Zaffin said the proposal was made based on accidents in which rear passengers could have avoided injuries or even deaths had they been wearing seatbelts.

He added that the Police found that the risk for children sitting in the back seat doubled because they rarely buckle up, with their parents believing that sitting in the rear would automatically protect them in case of an accident.

He stressed that the draft law imposed on the driver to oblige the passengers sitting in the back seat to harness seat belts, and in case of a failure to do so, he will be subject to violation.

Dubai link residence visas to Emirates Identity Cards from April 1, 2012.

Emirates Identity Authority (Eida) has announced that Dubai will link residence visas to Emirates Identity Cards from April 1, 2012.

ID card link to visas in Dubai will be compulsory from from April next year, said Eida, adding that the procedure will be co-ordination with the General Department of Residency and Naturalisation.

Eida stressed that ID card registration is mandatory for issuing and renewing residence visas in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah.

Meanwhile, the authority also said that it will open six more registration centres at the preventive medicine centres this month in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, according to an 'Al Khaleej' report.

The UAE will have a total of 26 registration centres by the year-end with the new additions. The new centres will be distributed in Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah, while in Dubai they will be located at Al Quoz, Satwa and Jafza. In Abu Dhabi the new centre will be located at Al Jazira.

Eida added that the centre in Al Quoz, Dubai can register about 700 people a day; the one in Satwa can register 1,000 people a day and 250 people can be handled at the Jafza centre.

No job ban for expats on Husband visa

The UAE does not impose a work ban on expatriate employees sponsored by their relatives in case they want to shift to another job, according to the ministry of labour.

A ministry committee discussed several applications for job transfer and exemption of the six-months and one-year ban for some workers at its weekly open-day meeting .

One application was submitted by a female pharmacist who wants to be sponsored by her husband after the pharmacy where she had worked shut down, according to Alkhaleej newspaper.

The committee told the applicant she can get a new job after transferring visa to her husband and obtaining clearance from the former employer, the paper said.

“The committee made clear that the labour law allows a woman sponsored by her husband to shift to another job without having a work ban because a ban is not applicable on those who are sponsored by their relatives.”