Subscriptions and auto-renewals in the UAE, how to check and cancel

Two different rulebooks cover subscriptions in the UAE, and which one applies depends on who you are subscribing to, not on the word "subscription" itself. A bank, insurer or other provider licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE follows one set of rules, with a specific notice period. A gym, a streaming service, a software subscription or almost anything else follows a different, more general rule, with no fixed notice period. This guide covers both, and keeps them apart, because treating them as one rule is exactly the kind of mistake that leads to bad information online.

It is general consumer information, not legal advice.

If it is a bank, insurer, or another financial product

The Central Bank of the UAE's own Consumer Protection Standards set a specific rule for financial products that renew automatically each year: the provider must send a written notice at least 30 calendar days before the renewal date, and that notice must also say how and when you can cancel the automatic renewal.

Three further protections apply to the same category of provider:

• A "free" offer has to be honest about ending, and you have to be warned before charges start. If a financial product is offered free for a period, the advertisement must say plainly that it will not stay free after that period, and the provider must tell you 30 calendar days in advance of the point where fees or charges will start applying. It must also say whether you can cancel and how.
• A retention offer cannot be used to delay you leaving. A bank can make you an offer to stay when you ask to close an account, but making that offer does not pause the clock. Unless you withdraw your closure request, the bank still has to process it within the timeframes the Central Bank sets. Closing a current or savings account carries no fee once it has been open for six months or more.
• Changes to your terms generally need 60 calendar days' notice. If a provider of this kind makes a permitted change to the terms of your product, including its fees, it generally has to give you at least 60 calendar days' notice before the change takes effect, with a plain-language summary of what is changing and a copy of the revised terms. Changes to lending rates follow their own rules.

If it is a gym, a streaming service, software, or most other subscriptions

For subscriptions outside the Central Bank's remit, the general Consumer Protection Law's executive regulation applies instead, and it does not set a specific number of days for a renewal notice. What it does say is narrower but still useful:

• A provider cannot reserve a one-sided right to change what you are getting. Cabinet Resolution No. 66 of 2023 prohibits this kind of term: a provider cannot claim the right to unilaterally change the service's characteristics or your terms of use in a subscription contract. The exception is that it may change the service after notifying you, if the change develops or updates the service or is for a reason beyond its control.
• You cannot be locked in more tightly than the provider is. In an ongoing contract, a provider cannot keep the right to end it whenever it likes while denying you the same right.
• You cannot be made to sign away these rights. The regulation also prohibits a term that makes you waive any of your rights under the law or the regulation.

What to check before you sign up

1. Check who you are actually subscribing to. If it is a bank, insurer, or a product sold through one, the 30-day notice rule applies. If it is a general merchant, it does not, and you should not assume it does.
2. Read what happens at renewal, specifically. If a service states its own renewal notice period in its terms, note it, since that is what it has told you to expect.
3. Keep a record of when you subscribed and what the terms said at the time, so a later silent change is something you can actually point to.
4. If a "free" period is offered, check exactly when it ends and how you will be told, especially for a financial product, where a 30-day warning is required.

If a subscription changes without notice, or becomes hard to leave

1. Check the two categories above to know which set of rules applies to your situation.
2. If it is a financial product and the required notice was not given, or a retention offer was used to delay your closure request, raise an official complaint with the provider first. If that does not settle it, Sanadak, the Central Bank's independent ombudsman unit, handles complaints against banks and insurers, free of charge for an initial complaint, and can decline one if you have not first complained to the institution.
3. For a general subscription, if the terms changed without any notice at all, that is worth raising with the Ministry of Economy and Tourism's consumer protection channel, or your emirate's own consumer protection authority where one exists.
4. Keep evidence: the original terms if you have them, and anything showing when and how the change happened.

General consumer information only, not legal advice. Rules and regulations can change, so check the latest official guidance for your circumstances.