Commercial Complaints up 52 Percent as More Businesses Resort to DED’s Dispute Resolution Service

The Business Protection section in the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai has seen a 52% increase in complaints regarding commercial disputes during the first half of 2018 compared to the same period last year.

The section received 790 complaints during H1 2018 as against 520 complaints during the first half of 2017 as more and more businesses are keen on adopting the commercial disputes resolution service launched by DED in line with global best practices in order to facilitate economic activity in Dubai and reinforce the city as the best destination for investment and sustainable business development.

The Commercial Compliance & Consumer Protection (CCCP) sector in DED receives complaints regarding disputes between traders inside as well as outside the UAE and works to resolve them amicably. The complainant must be a commercial establishment or enterprise registered in DED. The dispute should be commercial in nature and should not under consideration of any other judicial, legal or administrative body.

The Services sector accounted for 41.1% of total complaints received in H1 2018 followed by Electronics (11%), Foodstuffs (6.6%), Building materials (5.4%), Shipping (4.9%), Decoration & construction (3.9%), Cars (1.9%), Furniture (1.4%), Labour supply (1.1%), Clearance transactions (0.8%), Accessories and Car rental (0.6% each), and Equipment leasing (0.3%) while 19.7% of disputes came from varied sectors.

Companies operating in the UAE accounted for 71% of the complaints received locally and among them, 46% were UAE firms, 13% Indian companies, 8% Saudi, and 4% Egyptian.

Failure to comply with the terms of the agreement is among the most common complaints received during H1 2018, accounting for 59.2% of the total. Non-compliance with the terms of the contract accounted for 20.9% and 5.1% were related to commercial fraud while the others involved either failure to comply with agreed warranty terms (1.6%), specifications and standards (1.3%), after-sales service (1.1%), or business activity (0.5%). Additional fees on service or product (0.4%) and non-compliance with the price list (0.3%) also were causes for complaints.

"The Department of Economic Development is keen to enhance transparency and impartiality among traders in Dubai and the business community within and outside the country," said Abdullah Al Shehhi, Deputy CEO, CCCP. “So far we have managed to resolve financial disputes involving an average of AED 250,000."

Al Shehhi added that CCCP works towards resolving commercial complaints within a maximum of 10 days, the fastest time for complaints resolution currently in the UAE. Complaints from outside the UAE must be certified by competent authorities in the respective country.