Mohammed bin Rashid issues a law regulating the provision of digital services in Dubai

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, in his capacity as Ruler of Dubai, issued Law No. (9) of 2022 regulating the provision of digital services in the Emirate of Dubai, with the aim of supporting the emirate’s strategic plans towards digital transformation, strengthening public trends and implementing Government policies aimed at digitizing life in Dubai, and enhancing confidence in digital services of all kinds in the emirate, in addition to keeping pace with technical developments to enhance and improve the quality of digital services, and simplify the procedures for obtaining them from anywhere and at any time, while encouraging the public and private sectors to implement plans Programs and initiatives aimed at digitizing life in the Emirate.

The law obligates government agencies, the judiciary, which includes Dubai Courts, the Public Prosecution, and non-governmental entities, to provide current and future digital services to their clients, as determined by this law and the decisions issued pursuant thereto, and determined by a decision of the Chairman of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Dubai, based on the recommendation of the Dubai Authority Digital, the stages of applying this law to the categories it has identified, provided that the decision includes specifying the start date of the implementation of each stage, the digital services and the entities covered by each stage, and the controls and procedures for their application.

Rules for providing digital services

The law details the rules for providing digital services by the government entity, the judiciary and non-governmental entities in the emirate, including: the conditions and procedures regulating judicial affairs, commercial and civil transactions and e-commerce, stipulated in the legislation in force in Dubai, and enabling dealers to access digital channels to obtain digital services Providing the necessary technical support to them, adopting the digital identity for the purposes of obtaining digital services that require electronic registration to obtain them, and taking into account the electronic security requirements and standards approved by the Dubai Electronic Security Center.

The rules for providing digital services included the financial systems and electronic payment methods approved by the Department of Finance in Dubai, for the government entity and the judiciary, and the development of a plan to provide digital services, in accordance with the standards and controls approved by the competent authority, represented by the General Secretariat of the Executive Council, the Dubai Digital Authority and the Dubai Security Center Determining the stages of application of these standards and controls after their approval by the Dubai Digital Authority, applying policies related to information security and business continuity in the event of any disruption to the digital services it provides, and adopting and implementing electronic systems approved by the Dubai Digital Authority, which aims to support the provision and development of digital services Unified at the level of the emirate, and the provision of digital services in Arabic and English and any other language determined by the entity providing digital services, taking into account the language that the customer prefers from among the available languages.

Digital services are harmonized with all categories of customers, including people of determination who are unable to use digital channels, by activating some of the features that enable and help them to request, benefit from and obtain these services without charging them any additional fees or financial burdens, and the law authorized the Dubai Digital Authority. At the request of the governmental entity, the judicial authority, or the non-governmental entity providing the digital service, and after coordination with the General Secretariat of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Dubai and the Dubai Electronic Security Center, to exclude this entity, permanently or temporarily, from any of the above rules, controls or standards The remembrance.

Customer Obligations and Responsibilities

According to the law, the customer must, under penalty of perjury, abide by a number of duties, namely: updating his data with the digital service provider in the cases in which the provision of this service requires that, in a manner commensurate with the requirements and conditions set by that body to benefit from its digital services, and what It is specified in accordance with this law and the decisions issued pursuant thereto, as well as adherence to the controls and requirements set by the digital service provider, and approved by the competent authority, provided that the digital service provider does not bear any responsibility towards the customer or third parties as a result of any damage that may be caused to them. His breach of any of his obligations stipulated in this law and the decisions issued pursuant thereto and the legislation in force in the Emirate, and the customer shall be solely responsible, civilly, criminally, and administratively, when necessary, for all damages arising from such breach.

Digital Service Outsourcing

The law stipulates that the government entity or the judicial authority, after obtaining the approval of the competent authority and the Dubai Finance Department, may entrust any public or private entity to provide digital services on its behalf, or to provide systems, electronic programs and digital channels necessary to provide its digital services, or to manage and operate these systems and programmes. This is according to a contract concluded with it in this regard, according to which its term and the rights and obligations of its parties are determined, including standards relating to the protection of data privacy and confidentiality, as well as the rules for providing digital services.

Issuance of executive decisions and technical guides

The Director General of the Dubai Digital Authority, in coordination with the General Secretariat of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Dubai, issues the decisions and technical guides necessary to implement the provisions of this law, provided that these decisions are published in the official government gazette, and the technical guides are published on the website of the Dubai Digital Authority.

reconcile the situation

Under the law, the digital service provider must reconcile his status in accordance with the provisions of this law, within one year from the date of the start of the phase in which the provisions of this law are applied to him, and the Chairman of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Dubai may, based on the recommendation of the Dubai Digital Authority, extend this period for a similar period when necessary. .

 Applicable supplementary legislation

The law stipulates that federal and local legislation related to electronic transactions and electronic signatures, including the provisions, rules, controls, conditions, standards, evidence and procedures that it contains, shall be applied. from the date of its publication.

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