How to Complain About a Bank in the UAE: Bank, Sanadak, CBUAE (and Where MOHRE Fits)

Bank complaints in the UAE fail mostly on sequencing and documentation, not merit. Here is the ladder rung by rung, with what each stage needs from you.

Rung 1: The bank's own complaint function

Every licensed institution must operate a complaints function in the UAE, with published channels and response times, under the CBUAE consumer protection framework. Use it formally: not a branch grumble, but a written complaint (the app's complaint form, the official complaints email, or the call centre with a reference number captured) stating what happened, dates, the amount at stake, what rule or term you believe was breached, and the remedy you want. Attach evidence: statements, the contract, the fee cap you were charged above, the cooling-off withdrawal they ignored.

Two details matter enormously later. Get and keep the complaint reference number, and let the clock run: the ombudsman will only take a case after the bank has had 30 calendar days to issue its final written response (or has issued one you dispute). Skipping this rung doesn't accelerate anything; it gets the case bounced back.

Rung 2: Sanadak, the ombudsman

Sanadak (sanadak.gov.ae) is the independent ombudsman unit established under CBUAE regulation for consumers of licensed financial institutions and insurance companies, the first of its kind in the region. Access is free for consumers. It accepts complaints about products and services provided (or wrongly refused), and about financial loss or harm through deceptive, misleading, fraudulent, or unfair conduct.

Filing well: submit through the portal with the bank's final response (or proof the 30 business days lapsed), the complaint reference, your evidence pack, and a precise remedy request in dirhams where possible. Know the exclusions so you frame correctly: Sanadak won't take matters already before a court, complaints never raised with the bank, cases outside its time limits, or matters that are purely the bank's internal risk/pricing/AML policy. A "the bank closed my account and won't say why" complaint framed as an AML challenge dies; framed as a failure of the 60-day closure notice requirement, it lives.

The determination process is evidence-based and remote. If you lose and disagree, an appeals committee exists; the appeal carries a fee that may be refunded if the determination goes your way. Banks face their own case fees per closed complaint, which quietly incentivises them to settle clear-cut cases at rung 1.

Rung 2b: The CBUAE consumer protection channel

The Central Bank's Consumer Protection Department oversees market conduct and now routes individual complaint resolution to Sanadak. Where the CBUAE channel still matters for you: systemic conduct (a fee applied to thousands of customers), and breaches worth flagging for supervisory attention even after your individual case resolves. Filing the individual case at Sanadak and copying the conduct issue to the CBUAE portal is a legitimate double-track for serious matters.

Where MOHRE fits (and where it doesn't)

People search "complain about bank MOHRE" because salary problems surface in bank accounts. The routing rule: if the money never left your employer, it's MOHRE; if the bank mishandled money that arrived, it's the bank ladder above. Unpaid or delayed wages are Wage Protection System violations, complained through MOHRE (the app or 80060 hotline), which can freeze new work permits for non-paying employers and escalate to labour court. Conversely, a bank freezing your salary account, mis-selling you a product at the salary-transfer meeting, or hammering your credit file with a wrong default is bank conduct, and MOHRE has no jurisdiction over it.

Making any rung work: the evidence discipline

Every strong complaint is the same file: a one-paragraph chronology, the contract clause or regulation breached (the regulator map tells you whose rules apply), the dirham amount, and documents in date order. Complaints written as grievance essays lose to complaints written as claims. And keep paying/performing your side throughout; your own breach mid-complaint is the bank's easiest defence, the same discipline that applies in rental disputes.

Sources and References

CBUAE Rulebook, Ombudsman Regulation establishing Sanadak, Articles 2 and 4 (rulebook.centralbank.ae)
CBUAE Consumer Protection Regulation and Standards, Article 8 (complaint management) (rulebook.centralbank.ae)
Sanadak, eligibility and process (sanadak.gov.ae); MOHRE, wage complaint channels (mohre.gov.ae)

This article is for general information and does not constitute financial or legal advice.