Dubai: Hundreds of massage centres have been fined by Dubai Municipality for violating hygiene rules and breaching other regulations this year, an official said on Sunday.

A total of 330 fines, which totalled Dh749,000, were slapped on erring massage centres since the beginning of the year, the Public Health and Safety Department has announced. In addition to this, 561 warnings were also issued after the department carried out over 930 inspections this year.

Hafid Guloom, head of health control section at the department, told Gulf News that most of the violations were related to lack of hygiene and cleanliness.

Dubai massage parlour fines in numbers

No of inspections: 934

No of fines issued: 330

No of warnings issued: 561

Total fines collected: Dh749,000

Fine for lack of cleanliness: Dh400

Fine for not maintaining the premises: Dh1,000

Fine for non-possession of occupational health card: Dh300

“There were also instances where the staff members were cooking and eating inside massage centres. Employees not possessing valid occupational health cards and premises not doing proper maintenance were among other major violations,” he said.

Massage parlours providing physiotherapy and other medical services is a major violation, he pointed out. “Massage centres are not licensed to provide any medical services or physiotherapy. They are meant for providing relaxation, not treatment. They need to stick to the technical guidelines and health requirements provided on the municipality’s website,” Guloom said.

The fine for violating general cleanliness rules is Dh400. Employees not possessing occupational health cards attract a fine of Dh300 while a fine of Dh1,000 is slapped on the premises that have maintenance issues like problems in plumbing, drainage/sewage lines that pose health hazards and furniture damages that pose risk of injuries.

“If these issues are not fixed by the next visit, the fines will repeat. There have been some cases [of repeated offenders],” said Guloom.

The official warned people against running massage parlours at apartments and without a licence. “Even beauty salons should not be operating as massage centres,” he cautioned.

The municipality coordinates with the Department of Economic Development in nabbing those running such illegal businesses and issuing vulgar advertisements. “The economic department conducts its own inspections. When we find such violations during our inspections, we inform them.”