A report by the Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector of Dubai Economy showed that its Auto Renewal service for businesses recorded a 68 per cent increase among all total renewed licences during the first five months of 2020. Out of 64,605 licences renewed, 44,127 were auto renewed – which also marks a 67% increase in number compared to the first five months of 2019 (26,483).

Dubai Economy focuses on ways to enhance the ease of doing business and commercial activities in Dubai. By coordinating with all concerned authorities in the emirate, Dubai Economy brings best practices and add to the convenience of entrepreneurs to make Dubai more competitive and to drive sustainable economic development.

The Auto Renewal service furthe scales up BRL sector service standards, particularly in improving customer satisfaction, saving time and facilitating the process of business registration effortlessly. Previously, the customer’s journey to renew a licence included four visits and seven steps, and now, business owners can auto renew the business licence in one step by sending a text message with the trade licence number to be renewed to 6969. This highlights Dubai Economy’s commitment to leadership’s vision for the future by adopting global best practices that add to the ease of doing business in Dubai.

The Auto Renewal service reflects Dubai government’s ambition to go completely paper-free by 2021. The service has added tremendous value to businesses as the completion of transactions and payment of required amounts do not require any paperwork.

Auto Renewal Journey:

Previously, the customer’s journey to renew a licence included four visits and seven steps: ‘Inquiring about the service’ through the website or communicating with the call centre; ‘Applying for the service’ (visit) to provide the required documents and to obtain external approvals, followed by ‘External approvals’ (visit) based on the activity of the business licence and visits to government agencies to obtain approvals; ‘Lease / real estate ownership certificate’ to be certified; ‘Submitting the required documents’ (visit); ‘Dubai Municipality payment voucher’, and finally ‘Paying the fees’ (visit).

Now, business owners can renew the business licence through the Auto Renewal service in one step by sending a text message with the trade licence number to be renewed to “6969”, and will receive a “payment voucher”. They can then complete the payment through any of the payment channels provided in the text message. This is done without any visits and zero paperwork.

Payment channels:

Dubai Economy offers a number of payment channels for transactions related to auto renewals, such as online through Smart Dubai Payment Gateway; Sadad Aafaq; DED Business App; Commercial Bank of Dubai (customers) and Dubai Islamic Bank (customers). Customers can also pay fees through Aafaq via Bank Transfer or Deposit using Dubai Islamic Bank ATMs. Cash payment through Commercial Bank of Dubai or Emirates Islamic (branches/ATMs) is also an option.

No external approvals are needed to complete the auto renewal except for four commercial activities – transportation by public taxi, transportation by limousine, rent-a-car, and non-emergency transportation services – which require the approval of the Roads & Transport Authority, in addition to two others – inbound and outbound tours – related to the Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing.

Business owners must update their personal data for the BRL sector team to provide services more effectively.