Motorists in Dubai owning more than one vehicle can now renew their registration without having to clear fines pending for all the vehicles, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced on Wednesday, 3rd May, 2017.

Until last month, motorists had to pay fines accumulated against all the vehicles registered under their names before they could renew registration.

The requirement saw people delaying registration of their vehicles as the accumulated fines ran into thousands in many cases.

Ahmad Hashem Behroozian, CEO of RTA’s Licensing Agency, said: “The service of not obliging the customer to pay all fines of vehicles registered in his or her traffic file at the time of renewing vehicle registration aims to save customers’ time and effort.”

He added that asking for only the payment of fines pertaining to the vehicle to be renewed offers more flexibility and eases the process of registration.

“The RTA has provided an array of channels for processing customers’ transactions, including [the] RTA website [www.rta.ae], self-service kiosks, RTA smart app, and customers’ happiness centres. The RTA is seeking deliver excellent and innovative services contributing to the happiness of the people,” said Behroozian.

Road safety

According to Sultan Al Marzouqi, director of RTA’s vehicle licensing department, the move is aimed at improving road safety as more unregistered or untested vehicles means more danger of breakdown on roads.

“We have noticed that [the] accumulation of fines is one of the main causes of delay in renewal of registration. Delayed registration means there are untested cars on roads, putting road users [in] danger,” said Al Marzouqi.

The decision means people can now stagger their payments and pay whenever each vehicle is due for registration.

“We constantly monitor the roads and those who use the roads. We send frequent reminders to motorists when the vehicles they own are up for renewal. Through our studies, we noticed that a lot of people who own multiple vehicles and have accumulated fines don’t register their vehicles on time when one of their vehicles is due for registration, the main reason for the delay being lack of money to pay the fines,” added Al Marzouqi.

He said that the decision will bring relief to many people as a significant percentage of motorists in Dubai own more than one vehicle.

Though the decision covers only individual car owners now, Al Marzouqi added that depending on the response to this move even commercial fleet owners may get the benefit later.

Many motorists welcomed the decision on Wednesday as it allows them more freedom.

“I have two cars registered in my name, one of it is used by my brother and he had a lot of fines accumulated, which meant that I can’t renew my car’s registration until he [has] paid all the fines, forcing me to delay the registration,” said Abu Mohammad, an Indian expat. “This solves a lot of problems and makes life easier for many.”

Another motorist, Marwan Karam, said that he owns four cars used by his wife and children and the accumulated fines run into the thousands.

“It’s a hassle paying all the fines at one go, especially if they run into the thousands. This will help me big time,” said Karam, who is an Emirati.