A freelance mobile application designer has been ordered by the Al Ain Civil, Commercial and Administrative Court to refund nearly Dh200,000 to a businesswoman after failing to properly deliver a custom-built event-booking mobile application.
The court also awarded the plaintiff Dh20,000 in compensation for financial losses caused by the designer’s failure to meet contractual obligations, according to Emarat Al Youm.
Court records show that the business owner hired the designer to develop and launch an intelligent mobile app for booking party services, including weddings, birthdays, graduations, and related services. The agreed fee of Dh199,500 was paid in full.
However, the plaintiff told the court that despite full payment, the designer failed to complete the project, stopped responding to communications, and ignored repeated requests for revisions for more than a year. Multiple warnings and formal notices were issued, but the project remained unfinished.
When the case reached court, an information technology expert was appointed to evaluate the application delivered by the designer. In a detailed report, the expert concluded that the product was merely a basic prototype, incomplete and unsuitable for practical use.
The report stated that while initial designs had been submitted, the application lacked core functionality and did not meet contractual requirements. Critical features, including payment gateway integration and compatibility with Apple’s App Store, were never implemented, making the app impossible to deploy or monetise.
Court documents further noted that the designer failed to cooperate with requests for corrections or attempts to launch the application on major platforms.
In its written judgment, the court said it relied heavily on the expert’s findings, describing them as an essential part of the evidence. The judge ruled that the designer had clearly breached the agreement and that the businesswoman was entitled to a full refund.
In addition to returning the Dh199,500 paid, the court ordered the designer to pay Dh20,000 in damages, Dh500 in legal costs, and cover expert and court-related fees.
