Anyone who owns a car in Dubai faces, besides fuel and insurance, two small but recurring costs every day: the Salik road toll and public parking. Both moved to variable rates in 2025, meaning they cost more at busy hours. This article is based on the "Road toll in Dubai (Salik)" page of the official Dubai Government portal (`dubai.ae`) and two pages of Parkin, the operator of Dubai's public parking: "Variable parking tariff" and "Parking information". These pages were checked on 25 October 2026.
Salik tolls
Salik is Dubai's automatic toll system: a tag on the front windscreen is read when passing each gate and the amount is deducted from the account. The Dubai Government portal gives these rates:
| Time | Rate per crossing |
|---|---|
| Peak, Monday to Saturday, 6 to 10 am and 4 to 8 pm | AED 6 |
| Other hours, Monday to Saturday | AED 4 |
| Sunday | A flat AED 4 |
| Every day from 1 to 6 am | Free |
| Ramadan | Peak hours change |
The same page says the Salik tag can be bought online or at petrol stations and must be stuck on the front windscreen. The account is rechargeable and the toll is deducted automatically at each crossing. The page also has two warnings:
- crossing a gate without a tag may attract fines;
- if the balance is insufficient and the account is not recharged within 5 days, a fine is recorded against the vehicle.
The Dubai Government portal page does not give the tag price, the initial balance or the fine amount; check these when buying the tag through the official Salik channel.
Public parking
Parkin says the variable parking tariff took full effect on 4 April 2025; the event tariff had started on 17 February 2025. The main rules:
| Subject | What Parkin says |
|---|---|
| Paid hours | 8 am to 10 pm |
| Peak hours | 8 to 10 am and 4 to 8 pm |
| Off-peak hours | 10 am to 4 pm and 8 to 10 pm |
| Premium parking at peak | AED 6 for the first hour |
| Free | Overnight from 10 pm to 8 am, and all day on Sundays and public holidays |
| Major events | Separate rates around festivals, exhibitions and conferences, with clear signs |
Parkin intends "premium parking" for high-demand, densely populated areas such as Downtown, Business Bay, Deira and Jumeirah.
A table of sample zones
Each zone has a code written on the sign. Parkin has a separate table for each code; these are a few samples from that page, with the amounts the page gives:
| Zone | One hour, off-peak | One hour, peak |
|---|---|---|
| Premium roadside, code AP | AED 4.2 | AED 6.3 |
| Standard roadside, code A | AED 4.2 | AED 4.2 |
| Premium roadside, code CP | AED 2.1 | AED 6.3 |
| Standard roadside, code C | AED 2.1 | AED 4.2 |
| Burj Khalifa, Business Bay and Dubai Healthcare City, code GP | AED 4.2 | AED 6.3 |
| Jumeirah Lakes Towers, code E | AED 10.5 | AED 10.5 |
According to the same page, multi-storey car parks are open around the clock: AED 5 per hour and AED 40 for 24 hours, both plus 5% value added tax. Some shopping centre car parks have separate tables; for example, at City Centre Deira the first three hours are free.
Payment
Parkin says parking can be paid by sending an SMS or WhatsApp message to 7275: the plate number, the zone code and the duration. A reminder arrives ten minutes before the ticket ends, and sending "Y" extends it by another hour. Each SMS costs 30 fils in operator charges. The Parkin app is another way to pay.
Two monthly examples
These examples are hypothetical and only put the official rates above side by side. A month is assumed to have 22 working days.
**Example 1: a daily commute through one gate.** An employee passes one Salik gate once at 8 am and once at 6 pm every working day; both crossings are at peak.
| Line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Daily toll | 2 × 6 | AED 12 |
| Monthly toll | 22 × 12 | AED 264 |
| If the crossings were off-peak | 22 × 2 × 4 | AED 176 |
Moving the commute outside peak hours saves AED 88 a month in this example.
**Example 2: roadside parking.** The same employee parks from 4 to 5 pm on working days in a code C zone.
| Line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| One hour at peak, code C | — | AED 4.2 |
| Monthly | 22 × 4.2 | AED 92.4 |
| The same hour in code CP | 22 × 6.3 | AED 138.6 |
On Sundays and public holidays, paid public parking is free and Salik is a flat AED 4.
Practical points
- Read the zone code from the car park's sign; rates differ by code.
- For premium parking at peak, the first hour is AED 6; if you stay briefly, consider a nearby standard zone.
- Check the Salik balance before busy trips; the window to recharge before a fine is 5 days.
- During Ramadan Salik's peak hours change; check the new times through the official channel.
- Before buying a car, budget the monthly Salik and parking costs of your daily route; the article "Buying and registering a car in Dubai" explains the registration costs.
- For the driving licence, see the article "Exchanging a foreign driving licence in Dubai".
Royal Golden does not give legal or financial advice. This article is general information, and the decision on any toll and fine rests with the official Dubai authorities.
Sources
- Dubai Government portal, Road toll in Dubai (Salik) — https://www.dubai.ae/living/driving-transportation/road-toll-in-dubai-salik (checked on 25 October 2026)
- Parkin, Variable parking tariffs and peak hours — https://www.parkin.ae/variable-parking-tariff (checked on 25 October 2026)
- Parkin, Parking information and zones — https://www.parkin.ae/parking-information (checked on 25 October 2026)