Abu Dhabi government cancels all fines related to delayed licence renewals

Almost 48,724 licence holders benefitted from the cancellation of penalties

Abu Dhabi climbs 14 places to the 42nd rank in the 2020 Smart Cities Index. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National.

More than 72,000 businesses in Abu Dhabi's private sector have already benefited from a waiver of millions worth of fines, the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development has said.

The continued move, which nullified fines for licences that had expired until March 16, has benefitted thousands of businesses as part of the emirate's efforts to ease the impact of the coronavirus on the private sector. Within two weeks of the announcement, more than Dh246m worth of fines were annulled.

Penalties worth over Dh5.6m for other violations such as the improper storage of goods, or misuse of a commercial facility for housing purposes, were also waived.

Abu Dhabi, which accounts for about 6 per cent of the world’s proven oil reserves, introduced a number of measures to shore up its private sector after the outbreak of Covid-19.

The emirate first announced in March that it would waive the penalties as part of the government's stimulus measures.

Almost 48,724 entities benefited from the cancellation of penalties, the department said. Out of these, 14,086 had licences that had expired within two years and 34,758 had licences that had expired for more than two years.

"This decision is expected to help drive in a positive impact on the move to accelerate the pace of economic development in Abu Dhabi," said the department's under-secretary, Rashed Abdul Karim Al Balooshi

The department urged businesses whose licences have expired to either renew them using the entity's digital channels, through the Abu Dhabi government services website, TAMM, or to cancel them.