Sharjah The municipality Wednesday warned that residents who fail to attest tenancy contracts within 72 hours will have their electricity disconnected.
The decision was made after Sharjah Municipality carried out a survey and discovered that 20 to 25 per cent of tenants had not attested their contracts.
"Residents are given a grace period of three days to attest their tenancy contracts, and this means they have sufficient time to do so. We are taking strict measures against residents and commercial establishments, and if they fail to comply with the rules, their electricity and water connection will be cut off," said Eng Sultan Al Mualla, Director General of Sharjah Municipality.
He explained that residents were offered facilities to attest their contracts at the beginning of the year and were given discounts on tenancy contract renewals in order to encourage them to take the necessary steps.
Sharjah Municipality offered a 50 per cent discount on overdue attestation fees of tenancy contracts from January to February 29, that applied to contracts signed last year.
Sharjah levies a fee equivalent to two per cent of the tenancy contract, and previously, tenants were required to have their contracts attested within 15 days from the date of issuance.
"The purpose behind the attestation process is to maintain the rights of all parties involved, which includes both the tenant and the owner. So it ultimately benefits residents to have them attested. We also want all related procedures to run as smoothly as possible and for this to happen, we are first focusing on this issue," he said.
Al Mualla added that the municipality is coordinating with the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa) to carry out the electricity disconnection, and have discussed several ways on how to collect the fees of attesting contracts.
