Modes of payment
There are six modes of payment for parking in Dubai:
1) Coin - The simple old-fashioned way of paying for parking through payment machines.
2) Prepaid card - The earliest smart prepaid card which is still available for purchase at supermarkets and grocery stores. The cards are available in denominations of Dh30 and Dh100. Balance from the card is deducted when the card is inserted into the card slot at the paid parking machine.
3) Seasonal parking cards - Divided into Card A, Card B and Card T, which is only valid for Tecom areas, seasonal parking cards are available in different values and periods of validity. Card A allows you to park anywhere in Dubai except at the Deira Fish Market and Tecom areas. Card B allows free parking only at big parking lots except for Deira Fish Market and Tecom areas.
Card A
Three months: Dh700
Six months: Dh1,300
One year: Dh2,500
Card B
Three months: Dh450
Six months: Dh800
One year: Dh1,500
Card T
Three months: Dh700
Six months: Dh1,300
One year: Dh2,500
4) mParking - mParking system involves sending SMS in a set format to 7275. The system, launched around eight years ago, revolutionised payment for parking as it saved people the hassle of going out again and again to pay for parking. It also sends alerts to motorists to renew parking tickets every hour. An additional charge of 30 fils per SMS is deducted. mParking SMS has to be sent in the following format: number plate-space-area code-number of hours.
5) Nol Card - Payment for parking can also be made by inserting a Nol card in the card slot of paid parking machines and the parking fee is deducted from the Nol card.
6) Smart Parking - The latest mode of payment for parking is through the Smart Parking app that was launched last week. The app works on all smartphones and requires motorists to pay through their credit or debit cards. No extra transaction fee is deducted.
mParking can also be done through the RTA mobile app that saves motorists the hassle of remembering the zone number.
Parking expansion
From a mere 3,000 parking lots just over a decade ago, currently more than 100,000 spaces have been converted into paid parking zones.
Last year, Dubai Marina, Dubai Media City, Knowledge Village and Dubai Internet City were covered by the paid parking system.
This year, the Roads and Transport Authority has plans to install paid parking zones in The Greens, The Gardens, Discovery Gardens as well as area ‘C’ of Tecom.
In numbers
556,853 - total parking slots
114,827 - paid parking slots
70 – communities covered under paid parking
69 - A parking zones – on street or roadside parking slots
32 - B parking zones – off street or big parking lots
2 - special zones ‘F’ for Deira Fish Market and ‘T’ for Tecom areas
5 - RTA-operated multi-level parking buildings
3,916 - parking meters
Parking fees:
1 hour = Dh2
2 hours =Dh5
3 hours = Dh8
4 hours = Dh11
Fines:
Not paying the parking fee - Dh150
Overstaying expired time on ticket - Dh100
Exceeding the maximum allowed parking time limit - Dh100
Illegal parking - Dh200
Using parking space allotted for people with special needs without permit - Dh500
Displaying “vehicle for sale” in banned areas - Dh500
Double parking - Dh200
Parking zones:
Parking Type A:
Parking at high demand area or on street.
Parking Type B:
Off street parking away from high demand area.
Parking Type E:
Fish Market
Parking Type F:
Tecom area at Al Sufouh 2
Free parking zones
In Dubai only a handful of areas are not controlled by RTA’s paid parking system. Among these areas are some parts of Al Mamzar, Al Twar, some sections of Al Ghusais and Al Muhaisnah in the north.
In the western parts of the city, areas that are still free are sections of Al Badaa, Al Wasl, Al Safa, Jumeirah, Al Sufouh and Umm Suqeim.
On the eastern side, the still developing areas like Mirdif, Al Warqa’a, Al Warsan, Khawaneej and Al Aweer have free parking. Sections of Al Quoz, Oud Metha, Rashidiya, Al Garhoud, Umm Ramool and Al Jaddaf also have free parking.
Congested parking areas
Most of the central business districts are congested and finding a parking space can qualify as a Herculean task.
Among the busiest areas are: Gold Souq, Naif, Al Ras, Muraqqabat, Hor Al Anz, Sabkha and Al Khabaisi in Deira.
On the Bur Dubai side, the busiest areas are Al Fahidi, Al Ghubaiba, Old Souq area, Meena Bazar, Al Musalla Road, Khalid Bin Waleed Road, Khalifa Bin Zayed Road and Karama.
