The policy, which was implemented by the RTA on January 11 this year, has seriously affected the business of the local car rental industry. Some companies have even stopped accepting applications from international customers, industry sources disclosed.

Khaleej Times has learnt that as of yesterday, tourists who do not have international driving licence, can apply for a temporary UAE driving licence at RTA branches located either at the City Centre in Deira or the Union Co-operative in Al Tawar, instead of going to the RTA head office in Rashidiya. Both branches are open from 9am to 9pm, Sunday to Thursday.

Tourists also need to present their passports (original and photocopy), eye test results, driving licences of the countries of their origin, and Dh110 as application fee. A temporary UAE driving licence is issued on the same day of application.

However, this licence can be issued only to the nationals of European countries, the US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, South Korea and Japan.

Bob Farrow, General Manager of Hertz Car Rental and Vice-Chairman of the DCRG, told Khaleej Times: “We are hoping that a meeting between DCRG and RTA will be set up next week so that we can discuss extensively all the industry concerns relating to the new policy.”

He said that around 20 per cent of the tourists entering the UAE do not have international driving licence, which is a significant figure considering that they form part of the car rental industry’s clientele.

“Without an international or temporary driving licence, they (tourists) can’t rent a car legally. There may be some small car rental companies that would rent out vehicles illegally, but that will have grave implications as far as insurance issues are concerned,” Farrow pointed out.

Another industry source said the DCRG had been following up the issue with the RTA for more than two months but the agency had remained unresponsive to the group’s request for a dialogue so far.

“We have not received any response from the RTA with regard to the exact date when they will see us but we are looking forward to discussing and solving this issue with them,” he said.

In an earlier interview, the source had mentioned that his car rental company had lost around 30 per cent of its sales as they had to reject applications from tour operators and hotels. “We are only serving local clients now, which means UAE nationals or residents who have valid UAE driving licences,” he explained.

The source added that their other concern was whether expatriate residents in the other Gulf countries can apply for rented vehicles in Dubai. “Earlier, an expatriate resident of Bahrain, for instance, who had a valid driving licence issued by that Gulf state, could avail himself of a rented car in Dubai. But following the recent memorandum from the RTA, an expatriate’s Gulf country-issued licence is no longer accepted in the emirate. They, too, need to apply for a temporary driving licence,” he disclosed.