Q: I'm working on starting an online services company. My concern is whether it is legal in the UAE to pay members online through platforms like Paypal or not? A: Your activity will fall under the E-commerce activity. You must establish a company to perform such business in the UAE…

Dubai, UAE

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The requirements for starting an online e-commerce platform

I'm working on starting an online services company where the service will also be provided by the members of the online platform (similar to Uber model).

My concern is whether it is legal in the UAE to pay members online through platforms like Paypal or not?

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Ahmed Elnaggar

Elnaggar & Partners

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5 May 2018, 10:25

Dear Questioner,

Please note that most probably your activity will fall under the E-commerce activity.

You must establish a company to perform such business in the UAE. In addition, the service providers must be registered and allowed to work in the UAE.

In this case, both of you can contract and have business-related payments between each other.

Regards,

Ahmed Elnaggar

6 May 2018, 05:42

Dear Ahmed,

Thank you for your reply.

We will establish a free-zone company in Dubai, however, the service providers might not be in the UAE in many cases.

A good example is similar to Wikipedia. Let's say we have a website similar to Wikipedia and members write articles on it, and the more views the article gets the higher this member will be paid.

So technically, members (service providers) might be anywhere around the world.

6 May 2018, 05:58

Good. As long as the service they are paid for is allowed to be performed - anywhere in the world - without being licensed to do so. Then they are covered.

You should have the Free Zone Company with a license to perform your activities to be legitimate.

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