If you manage a jointly owned building in Dubai — a tower, a gated community, a mixed-use development — service charges are where your software either earns its keep or fails you. Generic service charge management software doesn't understand Dubai: here, service charges aren't just invoices you send. They're regulated by Law No. 6 of 2019 on jointly owned property, collected only through accounts registered in Mollak, the Dubai Land Department's official service-charge system, and benchmarked against DLD-approved budgets. This guide covers what Mollak requires and what your software must do to keep an owners association compliant and collecting.
What is Mollak — and why your software must work around it
Mollak (Arabic for "owners") is RERA's electronic system for governing service charges in jointly owned properties. Since Law No. 6 of 2019, management entities can't simply bill owners from a company account. Service-charge budgets are submitted and approved through Mollak, invoices carry Mollak-generated reference numbers, and payments flow into escrow-style accounts held per project — with DLD oversight of how the money is spent.
That changes what "service charge software" means in Dubai. Your system isn't the system of record — Mollak is. Your software's job is everything Mollak doesn't do: building the budget before submission, tracking each unit's share, chasing arrears, managing the maintenance work the charges pay for, and giving owners visibility so they actually pay.
The Dubai service-charge workflow — and what software must do at each step
| Workflow step | What your software must handle |
|---|---|
| Budget preparation | Build the annual service-charge budget by category (maintenance, utilities, master community, reserve fund) per sq ft, ready for Mollak submission |
| Unit apportionment | Calculate each unit's share by entitlement area — automatically, across hundreds of units |
| Invoicing | Generate owner invoices aligned to Mollak references, with VAT applied correctly (service charges are typically subject to 5% VAT — confirm treatment with your tax advisor) |
| Collections & arrears | Track paid/unpaid per unit, send reminders, flag chronic defaulters, and document the trail an OA needs for escalation |
| Maintenance delivery | Connect the money to the work: planned preventive maintenance, work orders, contractor AMCs — proof owners are getting what they pay for |
| Reporting | Owner-facing statements and board-facing dashboards in AED, per building and per unit |
The last row matters more than most managers expect. Service-charge collection rates track owner trust, and owner trust tracks visibility. Communities that show owners where the money goes — closed work orders, maintained assets, clean statements — collect better than communities that send a yearly invoice into silence.
Where general software falls short
Software that hasn't been localised for Dubai treats service charges as simple recurring invoices. What it misses: entitlement-based apportionment, Mollak's budget and reference structure, reserve-fund separation, master-community charges layered on top of building charges, and VAT on charges while residential rent stays exempt. Teams end up running "compliance in Excel" beside the software — which is exactly the manual risk you bought software to remove. That's the difference to probe when you compare tools on our list of the best property management software in Dubai.
How RIOO handles Dubai communities
RIOO was built for mixed portfolios, and community management is part of that fabric — including a dedicated community manager portal for the people running the building day to day. Charge apportionment runs on entitlement areas across every unit, invoicing and collections are tracked per owner with arrears flagged automatically, and work orders and inspections connect to the same units so owners can see where their money goes. Through the portal, community managers handle budgets, collections and maintenance in one place instead of juggling spreadsheets beside the accounting system — with NetSuite-integrated accounting keeping VAT on service charges clean alongside exempt residential rent. Owner statements come out of the system, not out of a weekend spreadsheet session. See the RIOO community manager portal in action — book a demo.
Frequently asked questions
Q1. Is Mollak mandatory for all Dubai communities?
Mollak applies to jointly owned properties in Dubai under Law No. 6 of 2019 — which covers the vast majority of towers and master-planned communities. Budgets are approved and collections run through Mollak-registered accounts, overseen by DLD.
Q2. Does software replace Mollak?
No — Mollak is the regulator's system and nothing replaces it. Software sits around Mollak: preparing budgets, apportioning charges, invoicing owners, chasing arrears, and delivering the maintenance the charges fund.
Q3. Who pays service charges — landlord or tenant?
The unit owner pays service charges in Dubai. Landlords sometimes factor them into rent, but the legal obligation to the owners association sits with the owner — which is why arrears tracking per owner, not per tenant, is essential.
The bottom line
In Dubai, service-charge software isn't about sending invoices — it's about running a Law 6/2019-compliant operation around Mollak while keeping owners informed enough to pay on time. If your current tool needs a spreadsheet beside it to survive an audit, it's not the right tool for a Dubai community.
This article is for general information, not legal advice. Service-charge obligations in Dubai are governed by Law No. 6 of 2019 on Jointly Owned Real Property, administered through the Mollak system — full texts at the Dubai Legislation portal and dubailand.gov.ae. Confirm current requirements with the Dubai Land Department or a licensed advisor.
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