Consumers in the UAE who are charged on a card after cancelling a subscription have grounds to demand a refund, under the UAE subscription charge refund rules set out in Federal Decree by Law No. 25 of 2025, which promulgates the Civil Transactions Law.
The law is clear on reversal. Article 237 states: ‘If the contract is rescinded or terminated, the contracting parties shall be restored to the state they were in before the contract. If this is impossible, compensation shall be awarded.’
Once a subscription is properly cancelled in line with agreed terms, any charge processed after the effective cancellation date has no contractual basis. The consumer can demand that the service provider reverse those payments.
How to dispute a charge after cancelling a subscription
The first step is to contact the service provider directly. Gather the cancellation confirmation, relevant correspondence and payment records, and present them as evidence that the subscription ended before the disputed charge was taken.
If the provider does not resolve the matter, the consumer can file a card dispute with the bank or financial institution that issued the debit or credit card.
The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) Consumer Protection Standards set a firm deadline here. Under Article 5.1.1.47 of the CBUAE Rulebook, a licensed financial institution must reimburse an unauthorised payment within 30 calendar days of the day the matter was first reported by the consumer or identified by the institution, whichever is shorter. The exception applies only where the consumer is found to have acted fraudulently or with gross negligence.
Where liability remains disputed and no clear payment authorisation can be documented, Article 5.1.1.48 of the CBUAE Rulebook requires the institution to refer the complaint immediately to a formal complaint resolution mechanism.
Notice periods and contract terms still apply
The Civil Transactions Law does not specify a fixed period during which a provider is permitted to keep charging after cancellation. That depends on the individual contract. A notice period, a minimum commitment term, or an agreed automatic-renewal clause can all affect when cancellation takes legal effect.
The relevant question is whether the cancellation was valid and whether any term in the contract authorised the charge that followed. Where no such term exists, the consumer’s right to reversal and refund stands.
Consumers should also be aware that the new Civil Code does not generally apply to legal relationships or transactions concluded before 1 June 2026, according to analysis published by Bracewell LLP. Disputes over subscriptions that predate that transition may require analysis under the previous 1985 framework, a point flagged in commentary on UAE civil law and contract termination.
Separately, the CBUAE Consumer Protection Standards set a 45-calendar-day limit for closing a credit card or payment account once a consumer requests it. During that period, the account must be frozen or blocked, and no unauthorised fees can be charged.
Consumers with unresolved billing disputes can escalate to the CBUAE’s own complaints channel if the bank fails to act within the 30-day window.
