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Dubai: If you’ve got a problem and want to report it to authorities, Dubai Municipality will be able to steer you in the right direction.

Since January 2017, Dubai Municipality received over 2,200 queries and complaints a day. That’s over 400,000 calls on their toll-free number 800900 so far this year.

Khater Al Nuaimi, Director of Customer and Partners Relations Department at Dubai Municipality, said responding to customers follows the principles of the municipality to open an effective and direct communication between residents and authorities.

Dubai Municipality has listed the top three complaints of residents:

  1. Stray cats
  2. Sewage network obstruction
  3. General waste removal

Stray cats is a common problem around the city of Dubai, and it is not uncommon to see the feline friends scraping for food near municipality waste containers.

Just last week alone, Dubai Municipality rescued 80 starving cats from the old fish market in Deira. Authorities said it sent three trucks and 15 specialists from the veterinary service section to save the cats after receiving complaints on their situation.

And when it comes to asking questions, these are the issues that are on the majority of people’s minds:

  1. Housing fees
  2. Occupational health cards
  3. Renting chalets

Dubai Municipality’s housing fee is calculated as five per cent of the annual rent. It is collected in 12 equal monthly instalments that appear in the monthly Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) bill.

For example, an annual rent of Dh55,000 should incur a monthly housing fee of Dh230.

The fee is applied only on the rent stated in the standard tenancy contract registered with the Ejari (My Rent) system of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera). Registering with Ejari is mandatory for all rent contracts in Dubai and must be updated for any changes.

The fee is sometimes applied on the rent value as of Rera’s rental index for different areas, which may not be exactly the same as the actual rent of the unit.