According to market sources, some real estate agents have started charging a ‘small’ fee ranging from Dh300 to Dh600 for showing accommodation available for rent.

If a customer falls into their trap, he or she would have to shell out this fee even if the person eventually decides not to rent the flat.

Officials of some of these small companies insist that all real estate companies, whether big or small, have started charging this fee.

As an agent of the Faizal Street Real Estate Company said, “We are at one with the new system. The customers will have to pay the amount if we show the flat to them. It is the same with all other companies, although the rates may vary.”

Yet another real estate agent at Al Yasaf Company in  Karama said: “This move is a new one. The standard commission we charged earlier is just not enough these days. And, in any case, we are not doing anything illegal. There is nothing wrong in asking for such a service charge.”

However, the bigger players are apparently unaware of this move by the small and medium-size real estate companies in Dubai. One of them said, “It is just a trick to make some money out of nothing.”

An agent at Comfort Real Estate said, “We have not heard anything about any such service charge. We have never charged such a fee, nor are  any plans to do so. We just charge a flat five per cent commission.” 

Officials of the Green Apple Real Estate also echoed the same view. “We have heard about this practice in Abu Dhabi. There the companies charge this fee. However, we ask for our commission only after a customer has agreed to rent the flat. There have been instances when we have shown them 20 flats and they have rejected them all. Even then we charged nothing.”

Meanwhile, even when it comes to commission rates, it is obvious this rate does not have to be approved by any government office. “How can it be approved by the municipality or any other government office? And this five per cent is flexible. It is based upon a lot of factors. It can never be fixed,” they added.

However, Dubai residents reeling under the pressure of escalating rents and the mounting difficulty in finding small-size apartments at an affordable rent say, the additional payment of a service charge plus commissions will prove difficult for many if not most people.

“This will only add to our burden and woes,” said Shashi Raj, who is frantically looking for a studio apartment in Dubai.

He said house agents often simply end up showing poorly maintained flats. The whole exercise, he added, is a fiasco and a rip off.