Free parking for Emirati residents in Capital

The Department of Transport (DoT) has decided to issue free parking permits only to Emiratis who are residing in areas which fall under the Mawaqif paid parking system, Khaleej Times learnt on Sunday.

By Anwar Ahmad

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Published: Mon 15 Nov 2010, 12:40 AM

Last updated: Mon 6 Apr 2015, 4:00 PM

Under the new strategic decision of the DoT, the UAE nationals who live in residential apartments will be entitled to obtain two free parking permits and five permits for those who live or own villas.

Talking to Khaleej Times, Engineer Najib Al Zarooni, General Manager of Parking at the DoT, said: “According to the DoT’s new resolution for citizens, it allows them to obtain permits to park for free after the submission of required documents.” DoT had started implementing the decision a month back.

It only allows the UAE nationals who hold the permits to park for free where they reside (buildings or villas in which they live in), but it would not entitle them for free parking in other city locations, which fall under the paid parking system of the DoT.

Under the new initiative, local residents who obtain approval from the Mawaqif have to paste their free permits visibly on their vehicle’s dashboards.

Al Zarooni said, under the decision, the citizen who lives in a residential flat are entitled to get two free permits if the building doesn’t have its own private parking for residents.

In case of availability of private parking for residents, only one free parking permit will be provided, Al Zarooni said.

He clarified that the decision applied to those citizens who owned or rented out villas. They will be offered five free parking permits but in case of parking availability inside the villa for at least two vehicles, they will be entitled to only three free permits.

To a question, Al Zarooni said, this decision comes under a strategic initiative to facilitate the UAE nationals’ affairs and benefit them from Mawaqif, the paid parking system, and help manage paid parking system in the Capital.

The decision has been launched specifically for free parking permits for owners and tenants and their first degree relatives like mother, father, wife and children.

Other residents have to pay an annual fee for the resident permits at the rate of Dh800 for the first vehicle and Dh1,200 for the second vehicle.

Under the system for free parking, permit holders are not allowed to hold parking spaces specifically as the main purpose of parking permits is to allow them to park at any place available near their building.

anwar@khaleejtimes.com


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