The Saudi Ministry of Housing has started its Ejar Rental Service following complaints that the long-drawn-out delay in the launch of the project had exacerbated price manipulations in the rental market, said a report.

It has been mainly launched to regulate the property rental sector as well as to streamline the contractual relationship between landlords and tenants, reported the Saudi Gazette.

The Ejar e-network allows customers to report violations by real estate brokers through a specific app that can be downloaded to smart devices, it stated.

Landlords and tenants, including expatriates, can use the app called "real estate brokers" to communicate with the supervisory team at Ejar, said the report.

The app allows customers to search licensed real estate agents for renting real estate through the unified electronic lease program. All necessary data and most common violations are available for review, it stated.

A monitoring and supervision team will receive all communications, verify their validity and set up field visits to the respective real estate brokerage to enforce necessary measures, including contacts with the concerned parties and legal procedures through judicial monitors, said the report.

The common violations include real estate activities by non-Saudis, charging excessive commissions, charging commission on renewal of rental contracts, collusion of real estate agents in a location with the aim of price manipulation and failure to register rental contracts in the network, it added.