Dubai Service Charge Index and Mollak: What Owners Pay and How to Check

The service charge index is a Dubai Land Department (DLD) lookup that shows the service fees the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) has approved for a jointly owned property in Dubai. You select the project, the usage and the year, and the result is immediate. Mollak is the DLD system through which those budgets are approved and owners are invoiced.

What is the service charge index in Dubai?

The service charge index is an official enquiry service. The DLD services catalogue describes it as a service that "allows the customer to inquire about the approved service fees for Joint ownership properties" from RERA in the Emirate of Dubai.

The catalogue lists three channels: the DLD website through the Mollak system, the DLD website itself, and the Dubai REST app. It gives the expected completion time as "Immediate".

The DLD service charge index, the RERA service charge index and the Dubai service charge index are one tool: RERA approves the figures and the DLD publishes them. The Mollak website says the index "lets you view the RERA approved rate" for community service charges.

What is Mollak?

Mollak is the DLD system that regulates jointly owned properties and monitors the payment of service charges in them. According to the About Mollak page, the DLD launched it through RERA, and the name is "the Arabic word for Owners".

The same page says the Mollak system works on the DLD database of unit owners and registered units, "where no user may change the data", and that it reflects the provisions of Law No. 6 of 2019 concerning jointly owned property. Management companies registered with RERA must upload financial statements and supplier contracts for common area services.

The Mollak website sets out the process in nine steps. In short:

Stage	Who acts	What happens
Registration	Management company	Registers itself, its key managerial staff and each project as a property group.
Bank account	Management company	Establishes regulated bank accounts approved by DLD.
Budget upload	Management company	Uploads the service charge budget and submits it to an audit firm.
Budget review	Appointed audit firm	Reviews the budget in detail, then submits the final budget to DLD for approval.
Publication	DLD	The approved rates become available for public view on the Mollak website.
Notice and invoice	Mollak	The approval notice for the full budget period goes to all owners, and invoices are issued every quarter.
Payment	Owners	Owners pay through online payment options and through noqodi.

What is a service charge in Dubai, and what does it cover?

A service charge is the annual charge collected from owners to cover the cost of management, operation, maintenance and repair of jointly owned real property. That is the definition in Article 2 of Law No. 6 of 2019, issued in Dubai on 4 September 2019.

The DLD's frequently asked questions list what the charges payable by unit owners include:

• Service charges, such as security and internal and external cleaning.
• Maintenance charges, covering all types of maintenance contracts.
• Utility consumption bills: electricity, water and air conditioning.
• Administrative fees.
• Insurance fees.
• Master development community charges, which the FAQ labels usage charges.
• Reserve charges, an annual sum collected for emergency and major repairs.

Article 30 of the law restricts how the money is held and spent. The management entity must open a service charges account for each jointly owned real property with a bank licensed in the Emirate and recognised by RERA, and must deposit what it collects within seven working days. The cash reserve must sit in an account separate from the service charges account.

Is service charge mandatory in Dubai?

Yes. Article 28 of Law No. 6 of 2019 states that an owner "may not refrain from paying the Service Charges or Usage Charges approved by RERA", and an owner cannot waive an interest in the common parts to avoid paying.

Three further points in the law shape a Dubai property owner's service charge obligation:

• Scope. Article 3 applies the law to all master projects and jointly owned real property in the Emirate, including those in special development zones and free zones.
• Tenanted units. Under Article 16, the owner is liable for the charges unless the lease says otherwise, and the owner is not discharged from liability if the tenant fails to pay. See our landlord rights guide.
• Unsold units. Under Article 25, a developer pays the share for unsold units.

The obligation runs both ways: Article 27 bars a management entity from charging or collecting any amount without first obtaining RERA approval, and RERA may not approve a budget unless a certified audit firm recognised by RERA has approved it. Article 29 bars a developer or management entity from stopping an owner using a unit or the common parts in order to force payment in contravention of the law's procedures.

This guide covers Dubai only. It also does not summarise the circulars on the DLD's Rules and Regulations page, such as "Circular No. 1 of 2020 regarding the regulation of fees for services or use fees related to jointly owned real estate", which the DLD publishes as PDF files and which were not read for this guide.

How to check service charge in Dubai

You check it on the DLD service charge index. The steps below follow the procedure in the DLD services catalogue and the fields on the live index page.

1. Open the Service Charge Index on the DLD website, or use the Dubai REST app.
2. Pick a search tab. The page offers "Title Deed No", "Service Charge Index" and "Select on Map".
3. For a title deed search, enter the certificate number, certificate year, property type (land, building or unit) and budget year.
4. For a project search, select the project, the usage and the year.
5. Select Calculate. The page includes a captcha check.
6. Read the result. The page's result panel is laid out with the project, usage, year, start date, end date and "Managed By", and has an "Export as PDF" button.

We did not run a search, because the form sits behind a captcha, so step 6 describes the result panel as it appears in the page and not a completed lookup. That panel carries the note "Service charge does not include arrears", so the index is not a statement of what a particular unit owes. The page also holds a "No Data found" message for searches with no match.

This guide quotes no building or area rates. If you are comparing buildings in Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, JVC or Business Bay, run each building through the index. The DLD's frequently asked questions confirm that charges differ from one project to another, depending on the services provided, the size of the common areas and the size and number of units sold. Treat a figure in an off-plan brochure as an estimate until the project appears in the index.

How to calculate service charge in Dubai

Multiply the approved rate from the index by the area of your unit. The DLD's frequently asked questions describe exactly this: take the approved pricing from the service charge index and "multiply it by the area of the real estate unit". Use the area on your title deed. Article 25 of Law No. 6 of 2019 says the owner's share is based on the ratio of the unit's area to the total area of the jointly owned real property, using "the area of his Unit as recorded in the Real Property Register".

The title deed result panel on the index page also carries a note on how balcony area is treated in invoices issued after 2019. Ask the management company how it was applied to your unit.

For a first estimate before you have an approved rate, our service charge calculator works from property type and size. Feed the result into the rental yield calculator, and budget it next to the one-off fees in the buying costs calculator and in hidden costs of buying property in Dubai.

How to pay Mollak service charges

You pay against the invoice issued through Mollak. The DLD's frequently asked questions say service charges are paid into accounts approved by RERA, after the owner receives an email or text message from the Mollak system.

The Mollak service charge payment page lists three options:

Option	How you pay	What else to do
1	Pay into the escrow account mentioned in the invoice.	Present the payment slip to your management company by email or in person. The email address is printed in the invoice footer.
2	Pay at your management company, through its online portal if it has one or at its offices.	Find approved companies in the Mollak management companies list.
3	Pay using noqodi online payment.	Choose wallet, credit card or net banking.

What happens if you do not pay service charges?

The management entity has a lien on the unit, and the debt can be enforced through the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre. Article 32 of Law No. 6 of 2019 sets out the sequence:

1. The management entity has a lien on every unit for unpaid service charges, and a unit may not be disposed of until they are paid.
2. The management entity must serve a written notice approved by RERA, requesting payment within thirty days of the owner being served.
3. If the owner still does not pay, the claim is enforceable by the execution judge at the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre.
4. Where necessary, the judge may order the unit sold by public auction to collect the charges.
5. The defaulting owner must pay any court fees, costs or advocates' fees the judge awards.

The DLD's frequently asked questions add that where a property is blocked in Ejari because of service charges, the owner can contact the management company or the Rental Disputes Center.

How to dispute a service charge or complain about a management company

Complain to the management company in writing first. The Mollak complaints page requires this before any complaint is escalated. Its English text on the response time is cut short: it reads "within a maximum period of 2 working." and stops. The Arabic text of the same sentence on the same page says a maximum of two working days, and the Arabic also names RERA as the body the complaint then goes to. Treat two working days as our reading of the Arabic, not a figure the English page states.

If there is no answer, or the answer is unsatisfactory, the complaint is submitted through the Dubai REST app. You must provide the written complaint, any official response from the management company and any supporting evidence.

Two other routes exist in Law No. 6 of 2019. Under Article 24, the owners committee reviews the annual budgets and passes owners' complaints to RERA if the management entity fails to address them within fourteen days. Under Article 42, the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre has exclusive jurisdiction over disputes about the rights and obligations in the law. If the sums are significant, speak to a lawyer licensed in Dubai before you file.

Common mistakes

• Using an area average. The index is searched per project and per year, so a neighbouring tower tells you little.
• Reading the index as a bill. The index page states "Service charge does not include arrears".
• Paying by transfer and telling nobody. The Mollak payment page says you must present the payment slip to your management company.
• Assuming the tenant's default is the tenant's problem. Under Article 16, the owner stays liable.