A wide-ranging review into contracts such as car leases, health club memberships and employment agreements for domestic staff could change the way business is done in the capital.
The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (DED) is conducting a study of service contracts to ensure workers' and consumers' rights are properly protected. The process covers a number of different areas, including travel packages and wedding services.
"We have service contracts in terms of having to provide [domestic staff] or having to provide a service related to gyms, health clubs and so on," said Mohammed Salmam, a legal expert with the DED.
"Sometimes you have unfair clauses. Sometimes it is not unfair for the person who provides the service. It is unfair from a consumer's point of view. It is not considered as balanced."
The DED has already met representatives of recruitment offices in the capital to discuss clauses in employment contracts. And the Policies and Legislation section of the department is reviewing sample contracts in an effort to single out unfair clauses and suggest alternatives to make them fairer to consumers.
Activities that have attracted consumer complaints will also be identified and listed as part of the review.
"Right now in this project we are trying to choose these activities and get samples of these contracts and review them to ensure that all these clauses are considered fair," said Mr Salmam. "If two or three of these clauses are not fair this could result in complaints from consumers. We have to sit down and review these contracts."
The review aims to simplify jargon used in contracts to make it easier for consumers to understand and formulate a model agreement for each activity, whether it be a car lease or domestic staff contract.
"We [will] have a sample of these contracts for each activity or each sector and this contract will be considered as the … friendly consumers' contract," added Mr Salmam.
Guidance will be issued to service providers following the review. A comprehensive questionnaire will also be provided to consumers, to determine how satisfied they are with the services they receive, and ensure the effectiveness of steps taken to address any deficiencies found.
gduncan@thenational.ae
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Results
Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Sweet%20Tooth
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
