InvoiceReadyفاتورتك جاهزة؟

HomeArticlesContracts

Your provider is down? After Article 12 there is no notice to the FTA, but the deadline is still yours

Decision 197 removed the duty to tell the Authority about system failures within two business days. That removes a form, but it does not stop the clock on issuing invoices. If your provider is down for a week, the delay counts against you. Here is what to put in the contract.

Last updated: 24 October 20264 min read

The short version. From 1 October 2026 you no longer have to notify the Authority about a failure in the e-invoicing system. But the window to issue and transmit invoices does not pause for an outage. If your provider goes down, you are the one who is late in the eyes of the law. Your protection is now in the contract between you and the provider.

What was removed

Article 12 of Decision 243 of 2025 required the issuer and the recipient to notify the Authority of a "System Failure" within two business days of it happening. A system failure was defined as any technical malfunction or disruption that stops you from complying. Ministerial Decision 197 of 2026 repealed Article 12 in full and deleted the definition from Article 1.

What remains

ObligationStatus after Decision 197
Notifying the Authority of a system failureRemoved
Issuing and transmitting invoices on timeRemains: 14 days for VAT registrants, 14 business days for non-registrants (Article 6)
Telling your provider about changes to your data registered with the AuthorityRemains: within 5 business days of the Authority confirming the change (Article 5(3))
Penalty for a late invoiceRemains in Decision 106: AED 100 per document, capped at AED 5,000 a month
Penalty for not reporting failuresIts line in Decision 106 (AED 1,000 a day) no longer has an obligation behind it in Decision 243

So if your provider is down for five days, there is no form to file with the Authority, but invoices whose window closed during those days count as late.

Five clauses for the contract

  1. A written availability figure, for example 99.5% a month, with a clear definition of what counts as an outage.
  2. Notice to you within hours of any outage that affects transmission, by email and text message, with an expected recovery time.
  3. A retransmission queue: invoices created during the outage are held and sent automatically once the system is back, with a log showing creation time and actual transmission time.
  4. Who pays the penalty: if the delay comes from an outage at the provider, the provider bears any penalty imposed on you because of it. If it refuses the clause, ask what it offers instead, such as a subscription credit for the outage period.
  5. A log that works as evidence: your right to download the send and receive log with timestamps, so that in a dispute with the Authority you can prove when each invoice was issued.
The new penalties decision. The Ministry's October 2026 presentation says Cabinet Decision 173 of 2026 replaced Decision 106. Its text had not been published as of 24 October, so the figures above come from Decision 106. We will update this page when it is.

Read also

Decision 197 of 2026The four changes 14 business daysWho is on which clock Questions before you signIncluding the service-level agreement
Sources: Ministerial Decision No. 197 of 2026, Articles One and Three (mof.gov.ae); Ministerial Decision No. 243 of 2025, Articles 1, 5, 6 and 12; Cabinet Decision No. 106 of 2025; UAE eInvoicing Programme presentation, Ministry of Finance, October 2026.
This content is general information, not tax or legal advice.