Cabinet Resolution No. 105 of 2026 · UAE Federal
Prescribes the Ministry of Economy fees under the Competition Law: AED 5,000 for each exemption application (restrictive agreements, dominance, economic dependency, predatory pricing), 0.02% of the parties' aggregate annual sales capped at AED 150,000 for an economic-concentration application, AED 1,500 to object to a concentration and AED 500 for a grievance, refundable if upheld.
Cabinet Resolution No. 105 of 2026 fixes the government fees payable under the Competition Law, Federal Decree-Law No. 36 of 2023. It was issued on 12 June 2026 on the proposal of the Minister of Finance and, by Article 5, comes into force 30 days after publication in the Official Gazette; the portal records 29 July 2026 as the in-force date. It contains no repeal article.
Article 1 adopts the definitions of the Decree-Law. Article 2 provides that the Ministry of Economy or the Concerned Authority, each within its competence, collects the fees in the attached Schedule. The Schedule has seven lines. An application for exemption from the rules on restrictive agreements (Article 5 of the Decree-Law), on abuse of a dominant position (Article 6), on economic dependency (Article 7) and on predatory pricing (Article 8) costs AED 5,000 each. An economic-concentration application, which is the merger-control filing, costs 0.02% of the aggregate annual sales value of the establishments participating in the concentration, capped at AED 150,000. An objection to an economic-concentration transaction costs AED 1,500. A grievance against a decision taken under the Decree-Law costs AED 500, refundable if the grievance is upheld.
Article 3 lets the Cabinet increase, reduce, delete or change the form of any fee on the Minister of Finance's proposal, based on the recommendation of the Minister of Economy after coordination with the Concerned Authorities and the Committee. Article 4 deals with collection: the Ministry collects through the methods set by the Ministry of Finance into the federal Treasury Single Account, while a Concerned Authority collects under the mechanism in force in its emirate into the local treasury. Neither Concerned Authority nor Committee is defined in this Resolution; both terms carry the meaning they have in the Decree-Law.
The practical point is that the concentration fee is a percentage of turnover with a ceiling, so a filing by large groups will usually sit at the AED 150,000 cap, while exemption requests are flat-fee. The fee is separate from the question of whether a filing is needed at all, which turns on the thresholds in Cabinet Resolution No. 3 of 2025 (combined UAE sales above AED 300,000,000 or a combined share above 40% of the relevant market), and from the procedure and timetable in the Executive Regulations, Cabinet Resolution No. 59 of 2026. Status: in force since July 2026.
Any business, or group of businesses, that applies to the Ministry of Economy or an emirate-level Concerned Authority for an exemption under Articles 5 to 8 of the Competition Law, notifies an economic concentration, objects to a notified concentration or files a grievance against a decision under the law.
English official text in 5 articles. Open the full text or jump to a provision:
| Article 1 | The definitions in Federal Decree-Law No. 36 of 2023 apply to the Resolution. |
| Article 2 | The Ministry or the Concerned Authority, each within its competence, collects the fees set out in the attached Schedule for services under the Decree-Law. |
| Article 3 | The Cabinet may increase, reduce, delete or change the form of any fee on the Minister of Finance's proposal, based on the Minister of Economy's recommendation after coordination with the Concerned Authorities and the Committee. |
| Article 4 | Federal fees are collected by Ministry of Finance methods into the Treasury Single Account; fees collected by a Concerned Authority follow the emirate's mechanism and go to the local treasury. |
| Article 5 | Published in the Official Gazette and in force 30 days after publication. |
| Schedule | AED 5,000 for each exemption application under Articles 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the Decree-Law; 0.02% of the participating establishments' aggregate annual sales, capped at AED 150,000, for an economic-concentration application; AED 1,500 to object to a concentration; AED 500 for a grievance, refundable if upheld. |
When we plan an acquisition or joint venture for a client we set out three numbers together: whether the deal crosses the notification thresholds, what the Ministry fee will be and what our own fee covers. Under this Resolution the government cost of a concentration filing is 0.02% of the parties' combined annual sales with a ceiling of AED 150,000, so for most of our clients' transactions the figure can be fixed early and built into the completion budget. Exemption requests for distribution or exclusivity arrangements cost a flat AED 5,000 each, which makes it cheaper to seek clearance than to carry an unexamined agreement. We also tell clients that a grievance costs AED 500 and is refunded if it succeeds, so challenging a decision is not a cost question. The fee is paid to the Ministry of Economy unless an emirate authority has competence over the sector.
No amendments, repeals or cross-references recorded for this instrument.
“Cites” and “Cited by” are built automatically from references in the full texts held in this library; they cover only instruments in the library.
Competition Law
Replaces the 2012 competition law: prohibits restrictive agreements such as price-fixing and market sharing, abuse of a dominant position and economic dependency, and req…
Competition Law Thresholds
Sets the economic-concentration notification thresholds under the Competition Law: a transaction must be notified to the Ministry of Economy where the parties' combined a…
Competition Law Executive Regulations
The 33-article executive regulations of the Competition Law: indicators of dominance, the economic-concentration notification file, formal and substantive review stages a…
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