This is a complete guide of what you need to know about parking in Dubai. Figuring it out on your own when you’re new in the city can be a bit confusing and especially now with the recent changes in tariffs and parking hours. We wanted to keep it short and sweet , so here is the most important information your need to know about parking in Dubai.

Paid public parking in Dubai

Most public places in Dubai are paid parking zones and they can be identified by the orange boards as shown the picture below. The Arrow indicates the direction of the closest parking meter. The number below identifies the location of the parking and the parking zone that this parking is covered under.

Paid Parking in Dubai

Dubai paid parking sign

 

Zone A Zone B Zone C Zone D Zone E Zone F Zone G
Area Commercial Commercial Non-Commercial Non-Commercial Deira Fish Market Tecom Downtown
Timing 8am-10pm 8am-10pm 8am-10pm 8am-10pm 8am-11pm 8am-6pm 8am-10pm
Parking Card A A,B A A,B N/A N/A N/A
30 min tariff 2 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
1 hour tariff 4 3 2 2 2 2 2
2 hours tariff 8 6 5 5 5 5 5
3 hours tariff 12 8 8 8 8 8 8
4 hours tariff 16 12 11 10 11 11 11
*All tariff prices are in AED

How to Pay

There six methods of paying for parking in Dubai.

Coins

You can use 1 AED coins and deposit them directly into the parking machine. Please keep in mind that they do not accept notes, so you must keep coins handy if you want to pay using this method. Insert the correct amount of coins into the machine and you will receive a receipt which you need to place in a visible location on your dashboard inside your car.

NOL card

The NOL Card is a Travel card and can be used on any public transportation in Dubai. The Parking meter will also accept your NOL card as a form of payment.

Pre-paid card

Prepaid parking cards are available in most supermarkets and grocery stores.  these can be used at the parking machines, similar to the NOL cards.

Parking Card

This is a good solution for residents who need to park in paid parking areas on a regular basis. These cards can be purchased for a duration of 3 or 6 month up to 1 year and will allow to park indefinitely in Paid parking areas.

Make sure your Card matches the Zone as listed above. Parking in a wrong zone will result in a fine.

MParking

Mparking allows you to pay for your parking using your cell phone. This only works for people who have a UAE sim card, so you need to has a simcard from either Du or Etisalat.

Send an SMS to 7275 in the following format: number plate-space-area code-number of hours. e.g. “A12345 336C 1”.  You will then automatically receive a reminder SMS once your time is complete and you can  renew your parking tickets at an extra charge of 30 fils per SMS.

Smart App

The government has created an app that allows you to pay for your parking and will send you reminders when the parking is due for renewal. This is probably the easiest and most convenient way to pay for your parking in you have mobile data.

Itunes App store – here

Google play store – here

Paid Private Parking

In some highly congested areas in Dubai you will occasionally see a sign for as Private paid parking. They operate independently and will usually charge between 5-10 AED and occasionally even 20 per hour.

Free Parking

Outside the hours mentioned in the table above, parking in paid parking areas is free.

Most hotels 4* and above will provide free parking and even valet service for guests and visitors.

Shopping malls and other large attractions like global village or Ferrari world usually have Free parking. Valet service usually costs approximately 50 AED.

Parking Fines in Dubai

AED 100 Exceeding the maximum allowed parking time limit

AED 100 Parking in a paid parking area beyond what you paid for

AED 150 Parking in a paid parking area without payment

AED 200 Double parking

AED 200 Illegal parking

AED 500 Using parking space allotted for people with special needs without permit

AED 500 Displaying “vehicle for sale” in banned areas