In a move that could affect hundreds of Indian expat workers hard, the United Arab Emirates has begin enforcing a new rule on age bar in the private sector under which employees above 60 years of age face the sack.

The ministry of labour and social affairs has started suspending private companies for failure to cancel visas and labour cards of their employees above 60, the Khaleej Times reported on Monday.

A labour rule and a ministerial order issued a few years ago stipulates that no visa be issued to an expatriate worker above the age of 60, except in special cases and categories where the country needs the services of highly skilled people.

Many expatriates have already lost their jobs as the government has started implementing the rule. The ministry also suspended 899 companies since the beginning of this year until the end of August for violation of the law, the report said.

Other reasons that invite suspension are non-payment of salary, non-observance of safety rules and negligence of hygiene at labour camps.

It is not clear how many expats of the nearly one million Indian workforce in the UAE will be hit by the enforcement of the age bar rule.