What the UAE e-commerce law asks of an online store: disclosures before payment, Arabic, VAT-inclusive prices, the licence, consent, complaints and the fines.
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Drafted with AI tools; researched, edited and approved by Althameem Ali. Our editorial policy
On this page · 10 sections
- What does the UAE e-commerce law cover?
- What must a UAE online store show before the customer pays?
- Does a UAE online store have to be in Arabic?
- How should prices and VAT appear on the site?
- Which licence does an online store need, and where does it go on the site?
- What does the data protection law ask of checkout and marketing forms?
- Does UAE e-invoicing apply to an online store?
- What happens if a store breaks the rules?
- What goes on our UAE store build list?
- Building a store for UAE customers?
We build online stores for brands selling in the UAE from Calicut in Kerala, so this is how we turn the law into build work. This is not legal or tax advice: each rule links to its source, read on 28 October 2026, and how it applies to you is for your adviser. We have no office, licence or staff in the UAE; our UAE web development page explains how we work with UAE businesses remotely.
What does the UAE e-commerce law cover?#
The UAE government portal names Federal Decree by Law No. 14 of 2023 on Modern Technology-Based Trade (opens in a new tab) (u.ae, read 28 October 2026) as the law that regulates e-commerce, covering goods, services and data sold through websites, apps, social media and digital marketplaces.
BDO Legal's guide to the law (opens in a new tab) (published 20 July 2026, read 28 October 2026) says orders taken on Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp fall within its scope, and that free zone companies are not automatically exempt: the law applies when they sell outside the free zone, or when the free zone has no e-commerce legislation of its own.
Reed Smith (opens in a new tab) (20 October 2023) quotes Article 2(b), which applies the law to "any person who engages in any commercial activity through modern technological means inside the State or those received from outside it", and says it is meant to have "a degree of extra territorial effect". An Indian brand shipping to UAE shoppers should ask its adviser how far that reaches.
The e-commerce law is one of four sets of rules a consumer store works within:
What must a UAE online store show before the customer pays?#
Article 5, as BDO Legal (opens in a new tab) summarises it, requires all terms, conditions, prices, logistics fees and digital payment charges to be disclosed clearly before the transaction. Buying counts as accepting those terms, but nothing left undisclosed can be added later. Charging delivery or payment fees above what the published terms state breaches Articles 14(3) and 15(3), with fines of AED 500 to AED 20,000.
BDO also lists these duties:
- A detailed, itemised invoice for every purchase.
- A complaints system with dedicated contact numbers and complaint tracking, with the business's licensing, address, contact and website details publicly available.
- Returns and exchanges for goods that are defective, incomplete, damaged, not as described, or made useless by late delivery, which the merchant may not obstruct. The right is lost in listed cases, such as perishables with a shelf life of three weeks or less.
- A marketing opt-out for every customer.
- A secure digital environment that meets the set cybersecurity standards.
Pinsent Masons (opens in a new tab) (6 October 2023) reads the consumer protection rules as also requiring prices to be "clear and legible" and barring a higher price when the customer pays by credit card, so ask your adviser before adding any card fee, even a disclosed one. Hogan Lovells (opens in a new tab) (21 May 2024) adds that a supplier cannot charge more than the advertised price, and that discounts and sales need the competent authority's authorisation first.
In the build, the cart shows item prices, delivery and any payment charge as separate lines with the dirham total, and links the terms and returns policy before the pay button. Our Leyl concept build, a working site for a fictional Dubai car rental firm (not a client), shows the pattern: its quote card shows the VAT and the card deposit before anyone books.
Does a UAE online store have to be in Arabic?#
For consumers, yes, at least alongside English. The Consumer Protection Executive Regulations, Cabinet Decision No. 66 of 2023, took effect on 14 October 2023. Pinsent Masons (opens in a new tab) reads them as requiring all data, advertising, contracts, website information from e-commerce providers and invoices to include Arabic: "Arabic must be used as a minimum." Other languages can sit alongside.
The penalties are high. Hogan Lovells (opens in a new tab) says Annex 2 of the regulations lists 46 violations, with fines starting at AED 100,000 for failing to issue the invoice in Arabic and reaching AED 1,000,000, and that the regime covers e-commerce "so long as the e-commerce provider is registered inside the UAE".
The Ministry of Economy and Tourism's list of consumer protection legislation (opens in a new tab) (read 28 October 2026) now includes Cabinet Decision No. 166 of 2026, which amends parts of Decision 66 of 2023, so the Arabic rules and fines above may have changed: check the current text with your adviser.
For a store, that means Arabic product pages, checkout, terms and invoice, written by a native Arabic writer and laid out right to left, not a translate button. Our guide to Arabic and English website design covers the layout, type and forms.
How should prices and VAT appear on the site?#
VAT was introduced in the UAE on 1 January 2018, and the rate is 5 per cent (opens in a new tab) (u.ae, read 28 October 2026). Consumer prices must include it. Habib Al Mulla (opens in a new tab) (7 August 2025, read 28 October 2026) explains that Article 38 of Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017, read with Article 27(1) of its Executive Regulation, requires prices for taxable supplies to be advertised or published VAT-inclusive. The penalty is AED 5,000 per violation. Prices may be shown without VAT only for exports and for supplies to VAT-registered businesses, and then the exclusion must be clearly stated.
For Indian brands, set dirham prices on purpose rather than converting rupees; our guide for Indian brands launching in the UAE covers pricing in dirhams.
Which licence does an online store need, and where does it go on the site?#
u.ae (opens in a new tab) (read 28 October 2026) says a mainland business selling online needs "a commercial licence that includes eCommerce activity" from its emirate's economic development department, and that some emirates issue a separate individual e-commerce licence. It adds: "All eCommerce licences require the approval of Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) also", and points to a no-objection certificate for practising digital activity. Free zone companies may operate within the free zone and internationally, but may need a local distributor or extra approvals to sell straight to the mainland. For Dubai, the same page links the eTrader licence through Invest in Dubai.
Which route suits you is for a UAE business set-up adviser. Once you have the licence, we leave a slot for the licence number and issuing authority in the footer, the checkout, the contact page and the invoice, and keep the address and complaint contact details beside it, since BDO Legal (opens in a new tab) ties those details to the complaints system.
What does the data protection law ask of checkout and marketing forms?#
The UAE government's data protection page (opens in a new tab) (read 28 October 2026) says Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 came into force on 2 January 2022 and applies to processing carried out fully or partly through electronic systems "inside or outside the country". Processing personal data without the owner's consent is prohibited outside listed exceptions, and the owner can ask for corrections or to restrict or stop the processing.
In the build, that means:
- Order data and marketing consent kept apart. Marketing consent is a separate box, left unticked.
- Analytics and ad tags wait for consent. The Meta pixel and analytics tags load only after the visitor opts in.
- An unsubscribe link in every marketing email and a way to stop WhatsApp messages.
- A privacy page that says what is collected, why, and how to ask for a correction or for processing to stop.
Does UAE e-invoicing apply to an online store?#
Not to consumer sales. KPMG UAE (opens in a new tab) (read 28 October 2026) says the e-invoicing system covers business-to-business and business-to-government transactions, and that "business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions are excluded". Businesses with revenue of AED 50 million or more go live by 1 January 2027 and the rest by 1 July 2027, through an Accredited Service Provider.
A consumer store still issues its own detailed Arabic invoice, but those sales stay off the e-invoicing network. A trade portal, or a store that also sells to businesses, is in scope, so it has to hand clean invoice data, with the buyer's tax details and item codes, to the accounting system that sends them. Our UAE e-invoicing guide covers the deadlines, the provider and a point retailers miss: a business in a mandatory phase must still be able to receive e-invoices for its own purchases.
What happens if a store breaks the rules?#
Penalties under the e-commerce law are set by Cabinet Decision No. 200 of 2025, listed by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism (opens in a new tab). BDO Legal (opens in a new tab) says it came into force on 28 November 2025, and describes the steps:
- Most first violations bring a written warning and a 15-day window to fix them.
- Later violations bring fines of AED 500 to AED 100,000, with temporary or permanent closure possible from the third offence.
- A violation that continues after the warning period counts as a new one.
- For serious breaches the Ministry can impose the maximum penalty straight away.
Other breaches carry their own figures:
Fifteen days is short for an Arabic rebuild, so build it in from launch.
What goes on our UAE store build list?#
We write this list into UAE store quotes, so you can check each line at handover:
Our UAE store prices are on our pricing page: a Shopify store with up to 50 products set up is from AED 12,000, and a custom store on WooCommerce or a headless build is from AED 15,000, both before VAT where it applies and the same figure in Qatari or Saudi riyals. After launch, our website care plan is from AED 500 a month, billed yearly, before VAT where it applies. For a business website rather than a store, see our web development page.
Building a store for UAE customers?#
Tell us what you sell, to consumers, businesses or both, and which emirate or free zone licenses you, and we will send a written quote that maps each rule above to a line of build work. Talk to us about your UAE store.
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Written by
Co-founder, Marketlube
Althameem Ali researched, edited and approved this post. Marketlube is a growth partner in Calicut building brands, websites, CRMs and campaigns for businesses across Kerala, India and the Gulf.
