Q: I lost my job during the pandemic and had to leave the UAE. After one and a half years, when I returned to the UAE, the bank's collection department had filed a case against me. My original loan amount was only 91,000 AED, but with profit, it increased to 134,000 AED. I have been paying regularly, and now I have only 59,000 AED left. I asked the collection department to offer me a reasonable repayment solution, suggesting a settlement of between 20,000 and 25,000 AED. However, they demanded a one-time payment of 50,000 AED, which I cannot afford due to a lack of funds. Now, they are threatening to file another case against me with a travel ban. I would like to know if the collection department can file a case against me and if the judge would help provide a reasonable payment solution. I have repeatedly asked the bank for a more reasonable settlement amount, but they refused and insisted on filing the case.

Q: My brother lost his job in the UAE 8 months ago and has a debt of AED 170,000 to a bank. He is finding it extremely difficult to make monthly loan payments to the bank, as he has been unable to find a job even after 8 months. What options does he have to reduce/settle his bank debt without having restrictions on him, like a travel ban, etc? Please help him find the best possible solution considering his current financial situation.

Q: Dear Lawyers, I'm seeking your valuable advice as per the UAE Law for the below inquiry. One of my close friends had taken a personal loan of AED 250k in the UAE and was paying EMI amounts regularly. Later, he was terminated by his company due to some issues and returned to his home country. A debt collection agency contacts him every day and gives more threats even though he has agreed to pay back the amounts after getting a new job. It has been 1 year and until now he did not get any good job and is unable to pay back the amount. However, the debt collection agency contacts him every day at least 3 times and threatens him with a criminal case against him, and that they will send him to jail and many more things. Now the inquiry is generally, if anyone is unable to pay back the outstanding EMI loan amount due to job loss, can the debt collection agency file a case against him or an arrest warrant, etc in their home country? Can we make a case against the debt collection agency for their outrageous behavior?

In the UAE, cheque bounce is a very frequent problem faced by people during their span in the country. It is covered under the purview of Commercial Transactions Law, and legal implications/penalties can be financially severe and daunting for more “serious” offenses. Bounced cheque issues may arise in a variety of commercial transactions, including but not limited to, companies’ exchanges, bank loans, property rents or purchases, and individual transactions.

As the civil and commercial transactions in the UAE have been growing rapidly, and due to replacing cash with other financial instruments such as cheques for big amounts of money, this had caused some hiccups at times leading to criminal and civil consequences on the person who defaults on fulfilling obligations.

The provisions of this Federal Decree-Law No. 50/2022 Issuing the Commercial Transactions Law, known as the "New Commercial Code" governs commercial transactions in the United Arab Emirates. The New Commercial Code repeals the previous UAE Federal Law No. (18) of 1993 Issuing the Commercial Transactions Law.