Latest Update- Free parking for Islamic New Year 2019: Dubai residents can avail free parking on the ocassion of Islamic New Year. All the public parking spaces will be available for free i.e no parking fees are levied. This free parking facility excludes multi level parking terminals. The free parking in Dubai will be available only for Sunday i.e. 31st August 2019. From monday(1 September 2019) the parking fees will be put back as usual.
Parking in Dubai is regulated by parking meters. As there are a good number of parking spaces it is quite easy to find a place to park your vehicle on the roads of Dubai. Parking spots are divided into different zones and different categories like commercial, non-commercial and special areas. Free parking in Dubai is limited to specific places, time and citizens. And for the rest of the time, the parking charges depends upon the parking zone and number of hours you’ve parked your vehicle.
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Free Parking in Dubai
In shopping malls-
Previously most of the shopping malls in Dubai provided a free parking facility. Once metro lines were started free parking benefits were stopped at the malls that are closer to the metro. Still, free parking can be availed at some malls during initial hours and chargeable after a certain time. The parking prices vary from each mall. In Deira City Centre and the Mall of Emirates, the first four hours are free and from then, it ranges from AED 20 – AED 150 depending on the time your vehicle is parked for.
Free parking for residents-
Dubai residents can avail public parking places that are around 500 meters(within half a kilometre) radius from the residence. Citizens having public parking places near their residence can make use of it on no charges. Eligible residents can visit the nearby RTA center with the required documents and get the card.
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Documents required to avail free parking near your residence are:
- Copy of the passport or the ID
- Copy of the ownership of the house or the valid tenancy agreement approved by Ejari
- Copy of the valid ownership of the vehicle in the name of the owner of the house or the tenant or a first-degree relative
Validity: The card provided is valid for a year.
Free parking on special days and time-
On Special days: Free parking in Dubai, can be availed on special days like Fridays. On Fridays, there are no parking charges and this is applicable during public holidays as well. RTA makes this free parking scheme even bigger during the holy month of Ramadan.
Elderly citizens: UAE Nationals above 60 years and disabled can avail free parking facility in public areas.
People with special needs: For people with special needs, the government provides a special parking permit to park on no charges along with a reserved space for parking.
Apart from the government provided parking benefits they are some more ways you can avail to park your vehicle for free like using credit cards with valet parking benefits. And one more thing that has to be noted is, in Dubai the fines that are charged for violating parking rules are quite high which ranges from AED 200 – AED 1000.
Please visit RTA Dubai for more accurate details on the parking.