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Trade licence activity does not match what we actually do — risk of fines?

Asked by Anonymous·Apr 7, 2026·1 answers
We are licensed as 'IT consultancy' but we have evolved into a full SaaS provider hosting our own software. Auditor flagged this as a possible licence mismatch. What is the exposure?

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Best answer
Priya IyerVerified Lawyer

corporate-commercial, labour-employment

0.0 · Apr 19, 2026
Trading outside your licensed activity is a violation under DED rules — fines start at AED 10,000 per infraction, license suspension is possible, and tax filings against unlicensed activity can be rejected. Add the SaaS-related activities (often 'computer system design', 'hosting services', 'electronic content publishing') as supplementary activities to your existing licence. The amendment takes 5-7 working days at DED, fee around AED 3,000. Voluntary remediation before a DED inspection materially reduces enforcement risk.
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