An invoice lands in your inbox and the annual service charge on your Dubai apartment has jumped again, with no obvious explanation attached. Before assuming the number is arbitrary, it helps to know that service charges in Dubai are not something a management company simply decides to invent. They run through a regulated approval chain: a budget submitted with supporting evidence, review by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), and a public record of the approved rate that any owner can check.
This guide walks through how that approval chain actually works, what an owner is entitled to see, how to challenge a charge that looks wrong, and where a dispute goes if the owners association and the owner cannot agree. Every rule below is sourced from official RERA and Dubai Land Department (DLD) material, current as of July 2026.
Who sets a service charge, and who approves it
A service charge is not set by the building's management company on its own authority. Under the framework RERA operates for jointly owned property, a management company must submit a full annual budget package before any rate can be charged to owners. According to the DLD's own service description for approval of service and usage charges, that package must include a detailed statement of the annual budget, at least three competitive tender proposals and evaluations for each service provider, copies of the relevant service contracts and consumption records, and an external financial audit report from an auditor accredited by RERA. The department reviews the submission, approves or rejects it, and only then is the rate published.
This process runs through Mollak, the DLD's dedicated platform described on its own registration page as "a new and integrated system to monitor accounts related to service charges." Every management company, RERA-accredited auditor, board member and supplier involved in a jointly owned property is registered on Mollak, and it is where budgets, invoices, statements of account and owner correspondence are logged. If a management company cannot point to an approved budget behind a charge, that on its own is a legitimate basis to push back.
Where to check the approved rate yourself
Owners do not have to take a management company's word for what was approved. The DLD publishes a Service Charge Index, described as an inquiry service that "allows the customer to inquire about the approved service fees for Joint ownership properties from the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA)." The index is organized by project name, property use (residential, commercial, and so on) and year, and it is accessible through the DLD website, the Mollak system, and the Dubai REST app. Before raising a formal dispute, the first practical step is simple: look up your project and year on the Service Charge Index and compare that RERA-approved rate against the figure actually invoiced to you. A mismatch between the two is the clearest evidence a charge needs to be questioned.
What you are entitled to see as an owner
Beyond the public index, an owner has direct rights to the underlying paperwork. Under the Direction for Association Constitution issued by RERA for every owners association in Dubai, notice of the Annual General Assembly, given at least 21 days in advance, must be accompanied by a copy of the proposed budget, the proposed service charges, and a document explaining the service behind them, together with the last annual financial statements and the annual reports of the board and the association manager. Separately, an owner may apply to the association, on payment of a specified fee, to inspect its records directly, which by the same Constitution must include a register of the annual budget, books of financial account, and copies of insurance policies and contracts.
In practice this means an owner facing an unexplained increase can request the approved budget breakdown, the underlying tender evaluations, and the RERA-accredited auditor's report for the relevant financial year, rather than accepting a lump invoice at face value.
The role of the Owners Committee and the management company
Each jointly owned property has an elected board, referred to on DLD's own registration service as the Owners Committee. Under the Association Constitution, the board is made up of not less than 5 nor more than 7 elected owners plus 3 reserve members, elected at each Annual General Assembly, and every board member must be individually registered with and approved by RERA. The committee's job is to oversee the association's affairs together with the appointed association manager, including setting strategic direction and monitoring the manager's performance, but the annual budget and the resulting service charge must still be adopted by a vote of the full General Assembly, not by the committee alone.
There is one exception worth knowing. Between annual assemblies, the board may impose a Special Service Charge to cover unbudgeted expenditure that could not reasonably have been anticipated, but under the Association Constitution that special charge is capped: it must not exceed 15% of the annual service charge last collected for the relevant fund. A demand from a management company or committee that goes beyond that ceiling, without being put to a General Assembly vote, is a procedural red flag.
Owners are not passive in this structure either. Any owner may submit a written request to have an item placed on the General Assembly agenda, and under the same Association Constitution, an Extraordinary General Assembly must be convened if owners representing at least 25% of the units petition for one.
How to challenge a charge that looks unjustified
A workable sequence, grounded in the actual rules, looks like this:
- Check the Service Charge Index and Mollak for the RERA-approved rate on your project and year, and compare it against your invoice.
- Request the supporting documents in writing: the approved budget, the competitive tenders, and the RERA-accredited auditor's report, which the association is required to hold on record.
- Raise it formally by requesting an agenda item at the next General Assembly, or by joining other owners to petition for an Extraordinary General Assembly if the issue affects the wider building.
- Escalate through the association's own dispute clause. The Association Constitution requires that a dispute first be referred to mediation or conciliation, with each party bearing its own costs and the mediator's fee split equally. Only if that fails may the parties agree to private arbitration, and if they cannot agree even to arbitration, either party may apply to the official dispute resolution process for jointly owned property.
The formal escalation route: the Rental Dispute Center
That final official channel is the Rental Dispute Center. RERA's own Circular No. (3) of 2021, on the mechanism of collecting service fees and procedures preceding resorting to the Rental Dispute Center, sets out the sequence a management company must follow before it can even file a case. The management company must send invoices on the specified dates, issue a notice giving the owner 30 days to settle any overdue amount, and, critically, verify the disputed amount through a RERA-approved independent auditor before registering a claim, with a stamped audit report attached to the case file. If a management company skips that verification step and files a claim regardless, that is a procedural gap an owner can raise directly with the center.
The same circular cuts both ways: an owner disputing the correctness of a charge, not just its timing, can use this same audit-verification requirement to insist that the figures be checked by an independent, RERA-accredited auditor before the matter goes any further.
What owners should not do while disputing a charge
It is tempting to simply stop paying while a dispute is unresolved, but the Association Constitution is explicit that an owner cannot avoid liability for a validly made service charge for any reason, including non-use of the unit or common areas, or dissatisfaction with maintenance quality. Unpaid charges accrue at a penalty rate, with the Constitution permitting a notice of up to one month to settle before a penalty of up to 12% per annum is applied on the overdue amount. Outstanding service charges also block a sale: the same Constitution requires a certificate from the owners association confirming no service charges or other moneys are owed before a unit transfer can be registered. The safer route is to keep paying under protest while pursuing the dispute through the channels above, rather than withholding payment as leverage.
FAQ
Who actually approves my service charge in Dubai? The Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) approves the annual budget and resulting rate, based on a submission from the management company that includes competitive tenders and an accredited audit, processed through the Mollak system.
How do I check whether my invoice matches the approved rate? Look up your project, property use category and year on DLD's Service Charge Index, accessible via the DLD website, Mollak, or the Dubai REST app.
Can I refuse to pay a service charge I believe is unfair? No. The Association Constitution states an owner cannot avoid a validly made service charge for any reason, and non-payment triggers a notice of up to one month followed by a penalty of up to 12% per annum on the overdue amount. Dispute the charge through the proper channels while continuing to pay.
What is the Owners Committee and can I be on it? It is the elected board of the owners association, 5 to 7 owners plus 3 reserve members under the Association Constitution, elected at each Annual General Assembly and individually approved by RERA through the Owners Committee registration service. Any owner can stand for election.
Where does an unresolved service charge dispute end up? The Association Constitution requires mediation or conciliation first, then optional arbitration by agreement, and finally the official dispute resolution process for jointly owned property, which for claims over unpaid or disputed service fees runs through the Rental Dispute Center under RERA Circular No. (3) of 2021.
Can unpaid service charges stop me from selling my unit? Yes. Under the Association Constitution, a transfer cannot be registered without a certificate from the owners association confirming no service charges are outstanding on the unit, so any genuine dispute is best resolved, or at least formally lodged, well before you plan to sell.
Sources
- Dubai Land Department, Request for Approval of Service and Usage Charges (RERA budget approval requirements: tenders, audit, publication). https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/request-for-approval-of-service-and-usage-charges/
- Dubai Land Department, Service Charge Index Overview (public inquiry tool for RERA-approved service fees by project, use and year). https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/service-charge-index-overview/
- Mollak (Dubai Land Department system for jointly owned property service charge accounts), Registration Process overview. https://mollak.dubailand.gov.ae/publicpages/registration-process.html
- Dubai Land Department, Owners Committee Registration Request service. https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/owners-committee-registration-request/
- Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) / Dubai Land Department, Direction for Association Constitution (board composition, General Assembly notice and agenda requirements, owner inspection rights, Special Service Charge cap, payment penalty, dispute resolution clause, transfer certificate requirement). https://dubailand.gov.ae/media/ye0d1ykk/association-constitution.pdf
- Real Estate Regulatory Agency, Circular No. (3) of 2021, Mechanism of collecting service fees and procedures preceding resorting to the Rental Dispute Center. https://dubailand.gov.ae/media/rozdwcdl/rera_eng_arb_april_eng.pdf
