Abu Dhabi’s Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport has imposed a new municipality fee (equivalent to three per cent of the annual rent) on expatriates renting homes in the emirate as it seeks to boost state revenues amid low oil prices, said a report.

The new fee payable by every expatriate tenant in Abu Dhabi is to be backdated to February last year, when the fee became law after its publication in the Official Gazette, reported The National.

The authorities had decided on the fee back then, but delayed its introduction because procedures to implement it were not yet in place, it stated.

The backdating to last February will deal a double blow to the expats as they will pay not just for this year, but also for 11 months of last year, the report added.

Dubbing the fee "as crucial for the running of the vital utility services," the authorities warned that those failing to pay the charges will risk their utility supplies being disconnected.

The department did not say how much the measure, from which UAE nationals are exempt, would raise, it stated.

Last January, the UAE capital had hiked the water and electricity charges, it added.