The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) has announced the launch of a strategic new digital service that will enable restaurants, tourism and entertainment facilities within the emirate to apply for a 20 per cent refund on the annual rental value of their commercial property leases.

 

Chairman Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa said the move comes following the directive issued by HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, to support private sector businesses through the implementation of initiatives included in a special economic stimulus package. 

 

This stimulus package aims to support companies and facilities affected by the implementation of the precautionary measures taken in the UAE to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

 

Al Shorafa said the Abu Dhabi government ensures the refund of 20 per cent of the total rental value paid by investors who started their lease from September 2019 or renewed their contracts during the period from 1st April 2020 until the end of September 2020. 

 

The move is expected to help add and enhance the confidence in the emirate’s business environment. The resolution covers all facilities practicing activities of restaurants, cafeterias, tourism and entertainmentm, he stated.

 

Al Shorafa said the resolution was part of the series of initiatives that ADDED had launched to help support the private sector, among which economic facilities operating in Abu Dhabi were recently exempted from violations recorded by the department, with a total value of around Dh246 million ($67 million).

 

Rashed Abdul Karim Al Blooshi, the Under-Secretary at ADDED, said that owners of all restaurants and tourism and entertainment facilities - excluding hotels - that are covered by the resolution, can obtain a 20 per cent refund on their annual rental contracts via registration of the required information about their economic licenses and commercial property leases on the department's website.

 

The service of receiving applications for refunding the identified rental percentage has been activated in collaboration and e-connection with the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance. 

 

"ADDED’s issued resolution also stipulates that in case the rent allowance is in participatory form, such as a fixed rental allowance and a percentage of the income, the refund is then calculated on fixed allowance," stated Al Blooshi.

 

The property owner who claims financial rights towards the tenant or any other financial right owner has to review the competent court’s decision to reserve the due allowance, in which the department does not accept any reservation request of any kind except those mandated by a court ruling, he stated.

 

The resolution will not affect the rest of the terms of the rental contracts and adopts the entire contractual annual allowance for the purposes of documentation and fees, he added.