Is there a legal way out of card debts?
A family member of mine is trapped in a credit cards debt cycle. He holds 17 credit cards of 12 different banks in the UAE, totaling a limit of Dh300,000. Since 2010, he has paid banks a total amount of Dh600,000, including monthly interest and penalty. Despite this, the principal amounts still remain the same. Almost all the banks have charged him interest of more than double the amount of his credit card limits. He has a lot of financial problems and is unable to pay the monthly amount he owes the banks. The fact that the banks revise the interest rates and penalties every month doesn’t help either. He has defaulted on payment to four of the banks. He has approached the banks many times and requested them to reduce the interest and penalty amounts, but to no avail.
My question is this: Is there any legal provision for banks to waive off his balance as he has already paid more than the principal amount as interest/penalty? Is there any legal way to ask the banks to reduce the interest rates? Pursuant to your queries, the bank has the right to collect interest on the outstanding balance. It depends on the terms of the agreement the cardholder signed with each bank while availing the credit card facilities. The banks in the UAE must follow the formats and texts approved by Central Bank of UAE in their loan/facilities agreements with the customer. If the agreements state that the interest cannot be changed during the term of the loan or facilities availed, then the bank cannot change the interests or penalties on its sole discretion.
Article 12 of regulation no. 29 of 2011 regarding bank loans and other services offered to individual customers states: “Conditions for opening of accounts providing of credit cards and granting loans and bank facilities:
> Conditions for opening of accounts of all types as well as conditions for obtaining credits cards must be included in a standard agreement, drafted in both English and Arabic and written in an easily readable font and in accordance with texts drafted and approved by the Emirates Banks Association
> Conditions for granting personal loans, car loans, overdraft facilities and facilities for covering unpaid credit card balance must be included in standard applications, drafted in both Arabic and English and written in an easily readable font, and in accordance with texts drafted and approved by the Emirates Banks Association.”
However, you may approach each bank from where the loan was availed to seek a waiver of the interest amount.
Restaurants, couriers ask for Emirates ID. Is this legal?
Is it legal for different entities to ask residents to show their Emirates ID cards for nongovernment and medical related purposes? Sometimes, even at restaurants, staff members take copies of our IDs if we are given a complimentary meal. Recently, a courier who came to drop off an item that I shopped online asked to see my ID card and took a photograph of it. Is this legal? It is understood that you have certain reservations in providing a copy of your UAE Emirates ID to private entities or other non-government entities to confirm your identity. These entities need to identify you to ensure that delivery of a courier is made to the correct person, complimentary meal is provided by a restaurant to the correct person and no one uses a false identity.
You may offer an alternative identity bearing a photograph issued by a government authority in the UAE such as your driving licence. The medical centres seek a copy of the UAE Emirates ID as they need to submit the same to insurance companies to reimburse the insurance claims submitted by patients. Asking for a copy of the UAE Emirates ID is a prevailing common practice to identify a person as compared to asking for any other form of identity as it is considered as the most authentic form of identification. There is no specific provision in the prevailing laws which makes it mandatory for a person to provide a copy of UAE Emirates ID.
Asking for a copy of the UAE Emirates ID is a prevailing common practice to identify a person as compared to asking for any other form of identity as it is considered as the most authentic form of identification.”
Can my employer delay visa cancellation process?
I have been working at a Dubai-based software company since April 2016 on an unlimited contract. I get a monthly salary of Dh9,000. I have got a new job offer from another company, with a monthly salary of Dh12,000. I have resigned and have informed my current employer that I will serve one month’s notice period. However, my current employer is insisting that I serve two months notice. This is not possible as my new employer is expecting me to join in one month.
Please advise, what are the legal options open to me if my current employer delays my visa cancellation process in order to make me work for two months on notice period? Pursuant to your queries, if your employment contract registered with Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (the “Ministry’) states your notice period is one month, then you have to serve one month. But in the event your contract states two months of notice to be served on resignation then you are bound to serve two months. This is in accordance with article (1) II (2) of the ministerial decree no. 765 of 2015 on rules and conditions for the termination of employment relations, which states: “In the case of unlimited (not term-bound) contracts, an employment relation is terminated if one party acts, at any time, to terminate the contract subject to notifying the other party and continuing to honour contractual obligations for the duration of the notice period, which cannot be less than one month and cannot exceed three months.”
However, if you intend to resign with one month’s notice even though your contract requires two months’ notice period, you have to pay the employer compensation in lieu of the notice period not served. This is in accordance with article (1) II (3) of the ministerial decree No. 765 of 2015 on rules and conditions for the termination of employment relations, which states: “In the case of unlimited (not term-bound) contract, an employment relation is terminated if one party (employer or employee) acts unilaterally to terminate the contract, without complying with the legal conditions described in (2) above and without reason of non-compliance by the other party; in this case the terminating party bears any legal consequences of early termination.”
Further, article 119 of the federal law no. 8 of 1980 regulating employment relations (the ‘Employment Law’) states: “Where an employer or an employee fails to give the other party notice of the termination of the contract or reduces the period of notice, the party obliged to give notice shall pay the other party compensation called ‘compensation in lieu of notice’, even where no prejudice has been sustained by the other party as a result of such failure or reduction. The said compensation shall be equal to the employee’s remuneration in respect of the entire period of notice or the time by which it was reduced. Compensation in lieu of notice shall be calculated on the basis of the remuneration last received, in the case of employee remunerated on a monthly, weekly, daily or hourly basis or in the case of an employee remunerated at piece rates on the basis of the average daily remuneration referred to in article 57 of this law.”
In the event your employer delays in cancellation of your work permit and residence visa you may approach the Ministry and file a complaint.