Khaberni - The Abu Dhabi Commercial Court (preliminary) in the UAE, ordered the owner of an online store to pay a girl 48,000 AED, which she had paid in exchange for purchasing a handbag. After receiving the amount, the store owner did not deliver the handbag and evaded refunding the money.
In detail, a girl filed a lawsuit against the owner of an online store, demanding her to pay an amount of 48,000 AED, plus legal interest of 12% from the date the lawsuit was filed until full payment, and demanding her to pay 5,000 AED as compensation for material and moral damages and delay in payment, along with covering the fees, expenses, and attorney's fees. She mentioned that she had ordered a handbag from the defendant via phone and paid the amount of 48,000 AED through a bank transfer to the defendant's account, but the latter refused to deliver the handbag or refund the paid amount, and provided evidence for her claim including images of the business license owned by the defendant, details of the bank account to which the amount was transferred, a bank transfer receipt, and correspondence through WhatsApp.
The court, in the reasons for its judgment, explained that it was evident from reviewing the documents that the plaintiff had ordered a handbag from the defendant through conversations between them on WhatsApp, and it was established from the bank transfer receipt that the plaintiff transferred the claim amount to the bank account of the business owned by the defendant, thereby proving the emergence of the obligation and the commercial relationship.
The court noted that the bank transfer receipt proves that the plaintiff transferred 48,000 AED to the bank account of the business owned by the defendant. It was determined that a sole proprietorship does not have a separate legal personality from its owner or the holder of the special commercial license or from its financial solvency, but it is merely an element of its financial solvency. Therefore, its owner or the holder of the license in it bears its obligations and debts as well as acquires its rights, and the judgment issued against it is binding on the owner. The court noted that the defendant had been legally notified and did not appear before the court or represent themselves to defend against the lawsuit with any acceptable plea or defense or to provide evidence of delivering the handbag to the plaintiff or clearing her financial obligation, and the court ruled obliging the defendant to pay the plaintiff 48,000 AED, and legal interest on it at a rate of 3% from the date of filing the lawsuit until full payment, not exceeding the principal debt, along with obligating her to pay the fees and expenses of the lawsuit, rejecting all other claims.
