Dubai firms to get 50% automatic discount on fines

Dubai: More businesses who will incur fines this year will get to enjoy a hefty discount.

The Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection (CCCP) sector of the Department of Economic Development (DED) announced that a new automated facility has been put in place for traders to avail themselves of a 50 per cent reduction on commercial fines.

The system will make it smoother and faster for eligible business owners to benefit from the government’s fine waiver programme. Last year alone, more than Dh23 million worth of fines were waived.

Text message

“As per the new facility, as soon as a commercial violation is entered in the system, the trader receives a text message with an automatic reduction of 50 per cent in the fine,” state news agency WAM reported on Saturday.

The announcement is in line with the declaration of 2019 as the Year of Tolerance by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and also represents DED’s efforts to enhance competitiveness and ease of business. It is also expected to help entrepreneurs cope with challenging business conditions.

Before the new facility was rolled out, the customer had to request for a settlement. The trader would then have to wait until his eligibility is verified.

“The net value of fines settled under the 50 per cent reduction in 2017-2018 was Dh 23.4 million. We believe that the new automated system will be smoother and more flexible as it will automatically adjust the fines and benefit more business owners,” said Mohammed Ali Rashid Lootah, CEO of CCCP.

Boosting competitiveness

“The Department of Economic Development is proud to launch initiatives based on the vision and directives of our leadership, especially when 2019 begins as the Year of Tolerance. We want to provide best quality services to as many businesses as possible in Dubai.”

“The automatic fine settlement facility will contribute to enhancing happiness in Dubai and the emirate’s position across global competitiveness indicators.”

Lootah said the DED received more than 4,650 fines settlement requests in 2017 and 2018 under the previous system.