The Ministry of Housing emphasized that Cabinet Decision No. 405 requires licensed real estate brokers to register lease agreements for residential and commercial units electronically through the “Ejar” online platform.

The Ministry clarified that anyone who violates this requirement will be subject to penalties under the Real Estate Agencies Regulation, which may include the permanent revocation of the agency’s license. Such penalties are issued by a decision of the Minister of Commerce, and the Ministry noted that appeals may be filed with the Board of Grievances within a period not exceeding 30 days.

Mohammed Al-Bati, General Supervisor of the “Ejar” Sector Regulation at the Ministry of Housing, noted that the number of real estate establishments registered in the Ejar program has reached 5,500, noting that some agencies have not registered because they do not meet the necessary requirements.

It should be noted that in February 2017, the Ministry of Housing announced the opening of registration for real estate brokerage firms and specified the requirements that must be met for a firm to complete registration on the electronic network for rental services.The program provides several services, including electronic payment of rent and periodic notifications regarding financial transactions and important alerts, The “Ijar” program will also provide a dedicated database for each real estate broker, enabling them to save and retrieve all contracts processed electronically without the hassle of storing paper documents.