Blank ruled paper with empty lines beside a phone that shows an empty room — The page stays blank because a bank photo is not the receipt file.

How to Keep a Mollak Service Charge Invoice and Receipt File in Dubai

Match the Mollak invoice to one Dubai unit and budget year, present the escrow slip, and read the next opening balance against the acknowledgement.

6 October 2026•5 min read•Article•IziRento Editorial

Rental operations notes from the IziRento team. Not legal advice.

Key takeaways

For one Dubai unit and one budget year, the Mollak file holds the invoice, a Service Charge Index snapshot for the same project, usage, and year, the payment slip to the escrow account on that invoice, and the acknowledgement or statement. A bank photo of a transfer is not the receipt until that slip is presented. Read the next opening balance against those papers.

For one Dubai unit and one budget year, keep four papers: the Mollak invoice (Dubai's service-charge system), a Service Charge Index snapshot for the same project, usage, and year, the payment slip to the escrow account printed on that invoice, and the acknowledgement or statement of account. A bank photo of a transfer is not that receipt until the slip has been presented. Match this invoice to this unit, pay only on a route it prints, and read the next opening balance against those papers.

Disclaimer: IziRento is operations software, not legal advice. Local tenancy rules vary; check a qualified adviser for binding decisions.

Four papers for this unit and this year

Mollak is the system the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) uses to regulate jointly owned property in Dubai and to monitor service-charge payment. The Mollak home page says those payments are monitored through escrow accounts. The About Us page says owners receive quarterly service-charge invoices through the system. File the period printed on your invoice, even if that period is not quarterly.

The first paper is the invoice for this unit. If the header says provisional, keep that word. Article 27 of Law No. (6) of 2019 says common-parts charges need RERA approval, and RERA may approve a temporary budget until a certified audit firm it recognises has approved it. Any later adjustment belongs on a later invoice. The English PDF is a translation, and the Arabic text prevails.

The second paper is a Service Charge Index result, the lookup of the approved fee, for the same project, usage, and year as the invoice. On the Land Department service you select the project, the uses, and the year, and the result is immediate. You can run it on Mollak, on the Land Department website, or in the Dubai REST app. In Dubai REST the published path is Services, then Service Charge Index.

The live index page says the service charge does not include arrears. Invoices issued after 2019 calculate balcony area at 0.25% of suit area, as the page spells it, and earlier invoices do not include balcony value. That percentage is an area note, not a service-charge rate. A higher total can be the current charge plus a previous balance, an adjustment, or a usage line.

The third paper is the payment slip. The Mollak payment page says a transfer to the escrow account printed on the invoice is unfinished until the owner presents the slip to the management company by email or in person. The email is in the invoice footer. The fourth paper is the company's acknowledgement, or a statement of account if none arrives. A guide written in September 2026 describes that statement as the invoices and payments since the building was registered.

Other papers are not this file. The building move-out permit is for the gate or the service lift, not this year's receipt. The security-deposit register is the tenancy deposit, not a Mollak payment. A DEWA clearance is the unit's own account with Dubai's electricity and water utility. A Land Department note of 6 January 2020 includes a chiller line, shared district cooling, in common-area fees, not on the unit bill. Ejari, Dubai's tenancy registration, is not cancelled by this receipt.

If the unit never receives a Mollak invoice, this file does not apply, including where the property is not jointly owned in Dubai. Abu Dhabi uses a different service-charge system. Article 32 of Law No. (6) of 2019 gives the management entity a lien for unpaid service charges, and the unit may not be disposed of until those charges are paid. A sale clearance is a separate application.

Checklist cards on blank ruled paper for this unit, this year, the fee snapshot, and the presented slip — Name the four papers for this unit and this year, and leave every ruled line empty.

When the lease says the tenant pays

A landlord can agree, in the lease, that the tenant will pay the service charge. Article 16 of Law No. (6) of 2019 still leaves the owner liable: unless the lease says otherwise, the owner pays service charges and usage charges, and the owner is not discharged if the tenant does not pay them as the law prescribes. A Land Department note of 6 January 2020 states the same rule and treats the RERA-approved invoice as the reference when common-area charges are disputed. Keep the owner's invoice and the proof of payment on the unit even when the tenant sends the money.

Check the next opening balance against the presented slip and the acknowledgement, not against a message that the tenant has paid. Article 25 still treats the annual share as the owner's, using the unit's area in the Real Property Register. Usage charges under Article 26, where the invoice shows them, are a separate line.

Comparison cards on blank paper for a lease that names the tenant and an owner who is not discharged — The lease can name the tenant, and the owner's papers stay in the file.

From this invoice to the next opening balance

Match the invoice to this unit
Open the invoice for this unit. Check the project, building, plot, property or unit number, usage, period, and due date. If it says provisional, keep that word.
Same project, usage, and year
Save the Service Charge Index result for this invoice's project, usage, and budget year, from Mollak, the Land Department site, or Dubai REST. Compare it with the current charge, not with a total that includes the previous balance.
Lines this invoice prints
Record only what this invoice prints. The general fund is applicable area times the general-fund rate, across service, maintenance, utilities, management, insurance, master community, and improvement. The reserve fund is applicable area times the reserve-fund rate, and the company holds it in a separate account. Additional charges can include unit air-conditioning, parking, and meter installation. Adjustments and the previous balance are separate lines, and the total may include VAT. A usage charge stays separate from the annual share.
Payment route and the presented slip
Use a route this invoice or the Mollak payment page gives. Transfer to the escrow account printed on the invoice, then present the slip by email or in person at the footer address and quote the invoice. The other routes are the management company's portal or office, and noqodi, an online payment service, by wallet, credit card, or net banking. If you use Dubai REST, follow the screen the app shows. The payment page does not print that menu, and an account that is not on this invoice is not a route.
Acknowledgement or statement of account
Keep the acknowledgement with the invoice, the index snapshot, and the presented slip. If the company has not confirmed the payment, ask for a statement of account for the unit.
Next opening balance
Compare the next invoice's previous balance with the slip and the acknowledgement. If the bank shows the transfer and the unit is still open, ask the company to match that slip, and pay again only if a statement says the first payment is missing. Ask about one named line and keep the reply. Common-parts maintenance goes to the owners committee. A charge dispute goes to the Rental Disputes Settlement Center, which has exclusive jurisdiction under Article 42. The violations form does not take contractual or rental disputes.

Workflow cards on blank ruled paper for the unit, the payment route, and the next opening balance — Match this unit, then read the next opening balance and pay again only if the first payment is missing.

Not a city rate, and not the due date

A move-out permit, a tenancy deposit receipt, a unit DEWA clearance, and an Ejari cancellation are not this file. The amount and the due date are the ones printed on this invoice. Law No. (6) of 2019 does not state a dirham rate or a flat fee for that bill. Three time limits in that law are not the payment date. The management entity has seven working days to deposit collected charges into the service-charges account. Thirty days runs from service of a RERA-approved written notice, not from the invoice date, and Article 32 states no numeric late-payment penalty. Fourteen days is how long the entity has to address a complaint the owners committee has notified about common parts.

The file is complete when it holds the invoice, the index snapshot for the same project, usage, and year, the slip presented to the escrow account on that invoice, and the acknowledgement or statement, so the next opening balance can be read against them. Do not pay the invoice again unless the statement says the first payment is missing. IziRento can store those papers beside the unit. It does not sign in to Mollak, pay the charge, issue a Mollak receipt, or clear the balance, and the workspace is in pre-launch testing.

FAQ

The bank shows the transfer, but the unit balance is still open. What now?

Present that slip to the management company by email or in person, and keep proof you sent it. Ask for the statement of account before paying the same invoice again.

The property is not on Mollak. Do I still build this file?

This file is for a Dubai jointly owned unit that receives a Mollak service-charge invoice. Without that invoice, including in Abu Dhabi, there is no substitute form.

Is a service-charge status on a move-out permit this annual file?

No. That status belongs to the building move-out permit that security reads at the gate or the lift: https://izirento.com/en-ae/blog/building-move-out-permit-noc-checklist-dubai. This file is the budget-year invoice, index snapshot, presented slip, and acknowledgement.

The lease says the tenant pays. Can the owner skip this file?

The lease can require the tenant to pay. Article 16 of Law No. (6) of 2019 still says the owner is not discharged if the tenant does not pay. Keep the owner's invoice and the slip.

Where does a wrong amount go?

Write to the management company first and name one line. The violations form does not take contractual or rental disputes: https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/rvs-violation-complaint-overview/. A dispute under Law No. (6) of 2019 goes to the Rental Disputes Settlement Center.

Match the Mollak invoice to one Dubai unit and budget year, present the escrow slip, and read the next opening balance against the acknowledgement.

Sources

Next steps