Anyone who has rented a home in Dubai knows the routine. You sign the lease, register the Ejari, then switch to a separate process to switch on electricity and water. A new upgrade aims to collapse those steps into one.
Dubai Land Department (DLD) announced on Monday, 2 November, an enhanced Ejari service on the DubaiNow app. Tenants and landlords can now create, register, renew and cancel tenancy contracts on the platform, and tenants can pay their Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) security deposit in the same process.
What is changing
The headline improvement is integration. Ejari, the system that registers rental contracts in Dubai, is run by DLD. DEWA activation is a separate utility procedure. The upgrade connects the two inside a single government app.
According to DLD, the Ejari certificate is issued immediately once the contract is approved. Paying the DEWA deposit in the same flow means the tenant can trigger the activation of electricity and water without starting a second application.
For renewals and cancellations, landlords and tenants can complete the steps digitally using UAE PASS, the national digital identity. DLD says this reduces the number of separate procedures involved in managing a tenancy.
Why Ejari matters
Ejari, which means “my rent” in Arabic, is a legal requirement in Dubai. Registering a tenancy contract protects the rights of both parties, because the registered record is what authorities rely on in disputes. It is also a practical necessity. Ejari is needed for DEWA’s move-in service, and many other residential services ask for the certificate as proof of address.
Mohammed Ali Al Badwawi, CEO of the Real Estate Registration Sector at DLD, called the launch another milestone in the evolution of Dubai’s digital real estate services. DLD said continued improvements to Ejari are intended to make rental procedures more accessible, strengthen transparency and protect the rights of landlords and tenants.
Rules that still apply
An app does not rewrite the rulebook. According to DLD’s published guidance, which regional outlets have summarised, a few conditions remain relevant:
- Individuals can hold up to three residential Ejari contracts.
- A tenant who cancels at a service centre needs a no-objection certificate from the property owner.
- Ejari should be cancelled once a tenant moves out. If the previous tenant’s final utility invoice is not closed, a new tenant’s account cannot be created and registration cannot proceed.
It is not yet clear whether the functions of DLD’s separate Dubai REST app, which also handles Ejari tasks, change with the DubaiNow launch. DLD has not addressed that point, and tenants who already use that app may want to confirm before switching.
The bigger digital picture
The Ejari update fits a pattern. Dubai has been steadily moving real estate paperwork online, from title deed transactions to WhatsApp-based Ejari tools introduced in 2024. Government statements and local media coverage have linked this latest step to Dubai’s digital strategy and its D33 economic agenda, which aims to double the size of the emirate’s economy by 2033.
The rental market gives the effort real scale. Dubai registers a very large number of tenancy contracts each year, and any friction in the process is multiplied across hundreds of thousands of households. Cutting even one repeated step is a visible quality-of-life gain, especially for new arrivals setting up a home from scratch.
Practical advice for tenants and landlords
If you are moving or renewing soon, a few simple precautions can save time:
- Have your UAE PASS account active before you start.
- Keep the signed tenancy contract, your Emirates ID and the property details ready.
- Check that the previous tenant’s utility account has been closed if you are moving into a new unit.
- Download the Ejari certificate once it is issued and keep a copy, as it is often requested for other services.
What happens next
DLD has not announced further phases, but the direction is clear. Government services in Dubai are increasingly being packaged by life event, such as moving house, rather than by department. Renters can expect more connections between property, utilities and residency records over time.
For now, the change is a practical one. A task that once needed several separate steps can now be handled from a phone, in one place.
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