Ejari moves fully onto DubaiNow: register, renew and cancel in one app

On 2 November, Dubai Land Department announced an upgraded Ejari service on DubaiNow, the government's main services app. Tenants and landlords can now register a new tenancy contract, renew an existing one, or cancel it, all within the same app and authenticated through UAE PASS. Once a contract is approved, the Ejari certificate is issued immediately rather than after a separate processing step.

The same flow lets tenants pay the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority security deposit, so electricity and water can be activated without moving to another platform. DLD has positioned the change under the Dubai Government's Services 360 policy, which aims to collapse procedures that previously spanned several entities into a single journey.

Ejari registration has been possible through several routes for years, including typing centres, the Ejari and Dubai REST apps and, more recently, WhatsApp. The practical friction was rarely the registration itself. It was the sequence: registering the lease, then separately opening a DEWA account, then chasing cancellations when a previous tenancy had not been closed. Bringing those steps together removes the most common reasons a move-in date slips.

It matters more in a market where leasing activity is running at record levels. Every lease that registers cleanly also feeds the official rental data that underpins the DLD Rental Index, which governs how much rent can rise at renewal. Faster, more complete registration makes that data more current for everyone using it.

For landlords, the biggest win is cancellation. An Ejari left open after a tenant leaves can block the next registration and the new tenant's utilities, which costs days of income. We recommend landlords cancel promptly at move-out through the app and keep a copy of the confirmation, because tenants typically need it to recover their DEWA deposit.

For tenants, check that the premises number on the lease matches the DEWA record before you submit, as mismatches remain a frequent cause of rejection. For investors with several units, a single app for renewals simplifies the annual cycle, but it does not replace reviewing each renewal against the Rental Index before agreeing a new rent.