Abu Dhabi: The long wait to get tenancy contracts attested at the Abu Dhabi Municipality is irking residents.
Residents told XPRESS they have to wait hours at the municipality for Tawtheeq registration.
“It took me three days to get my tenancy contract attested. Twice I came back because of the long queue,” said Indian expat Binesh Nair.
He said the transaction also takes too long, adding to the delay.
Since 2012, the Abu Dhabi government has made it mandatory for all tenancy contracts to be registered under a system named Tawtheeq.
Streamline property
Tawtheeq registration aims to streamline property rents in the capital and also regulate the rental market through an accurate database of rental properties.
Abu Dhabi residents need municipality-attested tenancy contracts to apply for parking permits and to be connected to utilities like water and electricity.
The Municipality charges Dh100 for a Tawtheeq registration.
Though property owners are expected to provide tenants with registered contracts, many residents say their landlords ask them to go to the municipality and do the registration themselves while renewing the tenancy contract.
“My tenancy contract was renewed last month, and I had to do the Tawtheeq registration all by myself,” said A. B, a Sudanese expat who is a legal translator.
He said he had to take off from work as he had to wait for three hours for his turn. “I did not know it was such a time-consuming thing. There were so many people waiting with tokens, and I spent almost half a day waiting,” complained A.B.
Another Indian expat who did not give his name said he had to queue up from 7.30am to register his tenancy contract. “After three hours of waiting in the line, I was told that there was some mistake in the information filled in by my landlord. I had to return the next day and again stand in line for hours,” said the IT professional.
“It is high time authorities introduced an online system for tenancy contract registration. The whole process will become easier and hassle-free,” said the resident.
