Table of Contents
Frequently Asked Questions
What is activity code 8690.71 and what does it permit
Activity code 8690.71 refers to a Telemedicine Counselling Centre within the UAE's business classification system. It sits within the regulated digital health segment and is commercially accessible to founders looking to operate in remote mental health and medical counselling.
Under this code, a business is permitted to deliver remote counselling, mental health support, psychological consultations, and wellness advisory services through digital platforms — including video, audio, and asynchronous messaging formats.
Which regulatory bodies oversee a Telemedicine Counselling Centre in Dubai
This activity sits at the intersection of two regulatory bodies: the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) at emirate level, and the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) at federal level. Both have jurisdiction depending on the nature of services and where practitioners are licensed.
The DHA has established a formal telemedicine framework with defined licensing pathways for digital health providers and teleconsultation platforms. This is a structured regulatory environment, not an emerging grey area, so founders should engage with both bodies early in the setup process.
Can a free zone licence be used to serve clients across the UAE
Yes. Operating from a free zone — such as Meydan Free Zone — gives you 100% ownership and a clean corporate structure. A free zone licence does not restrict you from serving clients across the UAE via digital delivery.
However, practitioner credentialling must be in order before consultations commence. DHA approval governs how your practitioners interact with UAE-based clients regardless of your corporate domicile, so compliance at the practitioner level is essential even if your entity is free zone-registered.
Who are the primary target customers for a Telemedicine Counselling Centre in Dubai
The primary customer segment is Dubai's expatriate workforce, which makes up over 88% of the city's population. These are professionals seeking confidential, accessible mental health support without navigating unfamiliar in-person healthcare systems, often preferring English-language and digitally delivered services.
Corporate clients represent a strong B2B opportunity, including employee assistance programmes, wellness contracts with HR departments, and insurance-linked referral networks. Both individual and institutional customer bases are viable from day one.
What revenue models are available for a Telemedicine Counselling Centre
Revenue models are flexible and can be layered depending on your target market. Per-session billing suits individual patients seeking occasional or ongoing support. Monthly or annual subscriptions work well for corporate accounts and high-frequency users who want predictable access.
White-label platform licensing to insurers or large employers is a higher-margin model available to operators with the technical infrastructure to support it. This approach can significantly increase revenue per client relationship without proportionally increasing clinical headcount.
What is driving demand for telemedicine mental health services in the UAE
Demand is sustained by several structural factors. The UAE has a large, mobile expatriate population managing relocation stress, career pressure, and cultural transition — a group that is structurally underserved by traditional in-person mental health services. Mental health is one of the fastest-growing segments within UAE private healthcare.
At the government level, the We the UAE 2031 vision explicitly targets digital health as a national priority, and the UAE healthcare system is actively expanding capacity through technology rather than physical infrastructure. The telehealth market is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 15% through 2028, according to IMARC Group.
Why is Meydan Free Zone recommended for setting up this type of business
Meydan Free Zone is highlighted as a viable licensing route for activity code 8690.71 because it provides access to a regulated but commercially accessible entry point into the UAE's digital health economy. Free zone incorporation under Meydan offers 100% foreign ownership and a straightforward corporate structure.
For a telemedicine business, the free zone structure is particularly practical because digital service delivery is not geographically restricted in the same way physical clinics are. Founders can establish their legal entity efficiently while directing compliance efforts toward the DHA and MOHAP requirements that govern actual service delivery.
Does the UAE telemedicine framework represent a mature regulatory environment or an emerging one
The UAE's telemedicine framework is mature and formally structured, not an emerging or grey-area market. The Dubai Health Authority has licensed multiple digital health and teleconsultation providers under its formal telehealth framework, and defined entry points exist for new operators.
The sector moved from pandemic-era necessity to permanent infrastructure, with the government committed to digital health adoption as part of its long-term national strategy. This means founders face a clear compliance path rather than regulatory ambiguity, though it also means that cutting corners on practitioner credentialling or facility registration is not an option.
How to Open a Telemedicine Counseling Centre in Dubai
Dubai has a large, mobile expat workforce dealing with relocation stress, career pressure and life inside an unfamiliar system. Many of those people will never walk into a clinic. They will open an app instead. The gap between that demand and the way people want it delivered is what this business fills.
The regulators have already caught up. The Dubai Health Authority runs a formal telemedicine framework with defined ways in, so this is not a grey area you have to argue your way through. This guide covers what activity code 8690.71 lets you do, who pays for it, and how to set up through Meydan Free Zone.
Key Stats at a Glance
What This License Covers
Code 8690.71 lets you deliver remote counselling, mental health support, psychological consultations and wellness advice through digital platforms. That covers video calls, audio calls and asynchronous messaging, so a client can write to a therapist at midnight and get a reply in the morning.
The thing to understand is what the license is and is not. It is your legal company. It is not your permission to treat people. That comes from DHA, and it attaches to your facility and your practitioners rather than to your trade license.
Who Your Clients Will Be
Individual clients
Over 88% of Dubai residents are expats. Many are professionals who want confidential support in English without first working out how an unfamiliar health system fits together. Remote delivery removes the two things that stop people booking: the commute and the waiting room.
Corporate accounts
This is the stronger commercial line. Employee assistance programmes, wellness contracts signed with HR, and referral networks tied to insurers all put a company between you and the client. That means volume and predictable billing rather than one booking at a time.
Platform partners
If you build the technical side properly, you can license your platform white-label to an insurer or a large employer. It carries the best margin of the three, because revenue per client relationship rises without your clinical headcount rising with it.
Pricing follows the same three shapes. Per-session billing suits individuals. Monthly or annual subscriptions suit corporate accounts and heavy users. Platform licensing suits operators with the infrastructure behind them.
Mainland or Free Zone
A free zone license does not stop you serving clients anywhere in the UAE, because nothing physical crosses a border. What matters instead is how your practitioners deal with UAE-based clients, and DHA governs that wherever your company is registered. Get the credentials in place before the first consultation, not after it.
[blockCTACostCalculator]
Step by Step Setup Guide
- Step 1, confirm the activity: Pick code 8690.71 and check the exact permitted scope with the Meydan Free Zone licensing team. Ask at this stage whether anything you plan to offer needs an extra approval.
- Step 2, send in your setup documents: You need your proposed trade name, passport copies for all shareholders, a business plan covering your services and how you will work, and credentials for your key people.
- Step 3, collect your trade license: Once your documents are reviewed and approved, the license is issued. Everything else flows from this one document.
- Step 4, apply to DHA: With the license in hand, start facility registration and submit practitioner applications through Sheryan. Allow several weeks, and expect the timeline to track how complete your paperwork is.
- Step 5, visas, banking and launch: Apply for residence visas for founders and key staff, and open a corporate bank account. Your Meydan Free Zone license and setup documents are enough for most UAE banks. Once DHA confirms, you can start seeing clients.
Compliance and What You Need in Place
DHA facility registration
DHA wants your operational premises and your clinical governance framework registered before you treat anyone. Both go through Sheryan, and both sit separately from your trade license.
Practitioner licenses
Every counsellor and psychologist needs recognised qualifications and DHA professional registration. International qualifications are assessed one by one, so build that assessment into your hiring plan rather than assuming a strong CV clears it.
MOHAP teleconsultation rules
MOHAP sets the federal baseline for how remote consultations run: informed consent, what you must document, what you may not prescribe, and how you handle data. These apply in every emirate and none of them are optional.
Data protection
The TDRA governs data duties for platforms handling personal health information, under Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021. Where you host and how you build the platform are compliance decisions, not just engineering ones. Settle them before you build, because retrofitting costs far more than planning.
Market Opportunity
UAE telehealth has moved from something the pandemic forced into something the system now runs on. IMARC Group expects the market to grow at over 15% a year through 2028, and the government has put digital health into the We the UAE 2031 vision as a national priority. Capacity here is being added through technology rather than through more buildings.
Mental health is the sharp end of that. The working population skews heavily towards expats managing relocation, career pressure and cultural transition, and in-person services do not reach them well. DHA has already licensed several digital health and teleconsultation providers under its framework, which tells you the route works. It also tells you that cutting corners on credentials is not an option, because the path is defined and it is inspected.
Conclusion
A telemedicine counselling centre in Dubai is a workable business with a clear route in, as long as you run the steps in the right order: Meydan Free Zone license first, then DHA facility registration and practitioner approvals.
The hard part is the clinical layer, not the company. DHA credentials, MOHAP rules and data protection duties all need sequencing and qualified people from the start. Get that right and the commercial model looks after itself, because the demand is already there and the corporate buyers are already looking for someone to sign.
Talk to the Meydan Free Zone team to confirm your activity scope, check your trade name and start the license process.
[blockCTAContact]
