So you are a happy owner of a property in Dubai.

The first thing you will be required to do upon receiving your Title deed is to connect the utilities.

If you’re a UAE resident and hold an Emirates ID that will not create any issue.

Connection can be done online through the DEWA or Empower portal. If your building is served by another chiller company you will receive the detailed instruction about the connection process. You will be required to pay the connection fee and refundable security deposit online.

However, if you’re not a UAE resident and do not have a local bank account, you will not be able to connect the utilities yourself as local utility providers only work with UAE issued bank cards.

So connection can be done through a broker that helped you to buy a property in UAE or through a holiday homes company if you will be renting out your property short-term.

Ok, that’s been done

How do I pay my bills?

While your home is vacant, you can put your DEWA connection on hold (using the option “away mode”), however it’s not recommended keeping your air conditioner off for a long time as it may cause mold formation and other problems even if your property is away enough from the sea.

So how can you pay your utilities?

International cards do not work directly with Utility payment systems here in the UAE.

Therefore you can upload funds to Noqoody wallet – a digital solution for online payments in the UAE.

You can access it directly through the portal or throw Dubai Now application.