How to renew vehicle registration (mulkiya) in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Mulkiya is the word u.ae uses for the vehicle ownership card.¹ RTA uses “vehicle ownership”, “Vehicle Licence” and “Ownership e-Card”.² The Decree-Law defines the Vehicle Licence as the official document proving ownership, specifications, validity dates and the insurer.³

Three articles of Federal Decree-Law 14 of 2024 sit behind every renewal.

To license or renew, it must be insured by an insurance company holding a UAE licence (Art 19(1)). Vehicles being registered or renewed are subject to technical inspection (Art 20(2)).³

How do car insurance renewal and registration fit together?

Renew the insurance first. In Dubai the insurer updates the traffic system, RTA checks that record, and only then can you pay for the renewal.² RTA does not require the two dates to match today. It requires valid insurance on the day you renew, and refuses a policy that starts a week after the ownership and insurance expire.²

From 1 January 2027 the policy must cover the whole licence period and the 30 days after it.⁴ That is about 13 months for a one-year licence. A 12-month policy ends before that date. The unified Loss and Damage policy allows an insurance period up to the end of the thirteenth month.⁵ Ask your insurer what end date it will put on the policy.

Whether your insurer gives a renewal discount depends on its own terms. The no-claims rules are on the no-claims discount page.

Now against 1 January 2027

Cabinet Resolution 174 of 2026 takes effect on 1 January 2027. The text is Arabic only on the portal and the wording below is our translation.⁴ The current number of vehicles is from RTA’s new vehicle registration FAQ, page modified 5 November 2026.⁶

Dubai renewal runs in eight steps

The order below is ours, assembled from RTA’s renewal page² and inspection page.⁷

1. Pay all traffic fines.
2. Inspect the vehicle if needed, booked on the website or in RTA Dubai.
3. Insure. The insurer updates the traffic system and the inspection centre updates inspection.
4. Log in with credentials, UAE Pass, or Emirates ID, licence or plate details.
5. Select the vehicle and renew.
6. RTA verifies insurance and inspection.
7. Pay.
8. Receive the Vehicle Ownership Certificate by SMS or email, from a self service machine, by delivery, or in Apple Wallet through RTA Dubai.

Channels are the website, Mahboub chatbot, RTA apps, shared channels, self service machines, and registration and inspection centres. Vehicles that need no inspection can be renewed through online channels only.² u.ae also lists the MOI app and website, Emirates Vehicle Gate and Abu Dhabi Police.¹ In Abu Dhabi, driver and vehicle licensing services have been provided by Abu Dhabi Mobility (the Integrated Transport Centre) since 9 October 2024, through TAMM and the existing service centres in Abu Dhabi City, Al Ain and Al Dhafra,⁸ and TAMM shows the Integrated Transport Center as the entity for renewal.⁹

RTA’s channel uploaded the first video on 10 November 2025. It concerns registering a new vehicle, not renewal. An independent channel uploaded the second on 30 November 2025.

Play: Discover how to use RTA's Register a New Vehicle service step by step.Nothing loads from YouTube until you click. Plays through youtube-nocookie.com.

Play: How to Renew your Car Registration in Dubai UAE, Mulkiya Renewal, Easy Step-by-Step GuideNothing loads from YouTube until you click. Plays through youtube-nocookie.com.

Abu Dhabi lists AED 350 on TAMM

TAMM says log in with UAE PASS or visit a service centre, submit, then pay. Emirates ID is the required document, original required. TAMM lists further steps and fees under “Show More”.⁹

Darb tolls on an Abu Dhabi plate can be paid at renewal, and these plates need no wallet balance.¹⁰ The toll comparison is on the Salik guide.

In Sharjah and the northern emirates, registration runs through each emirate’s traffic authority and the MOI channels.¹

Fees come from a 2017 federal schedule

Cabinet Resolution 30 of 2017 item 30 sets a light vehicle renewal at AED 350, first time at AED 400, transfer at AED 350 and re-registration at AED 400.¹¹ Article 48 of the Decree-Law allows a new fee resolution.³

The AED 20 is knowledge and innovation.²

RTA lists a Dubai light vehicle inspection at AED 170: AED 150 plus AED 20.⁷ Inspection figures are from RTA’s inspection service.⁷ Items 48 and 49 of the Arabic federal schedule show a light vehicle inspection at AED 150 and re-inspection at AED 50, the same as RTA.¹² The English PDF shows AED 50 and AED 200 against those items.¹¹ The portal says the Arabic text prevails.

Dubai timing runs from 150 days before expiry to a blocked file

• Earliest. Up to 150 days before expiry. If renewed early, validity runs from the application date.
• Grace. RTA says registration is valid up to 12 months, then a 30-day grace period for renewal.
• Two months after expiry. The Traffic File is blocked, with notice by SMS.
• Late. Late fees apply. Re-registration terms apply if ownership has expired.

Whether the grace period survives under Resolution 174 is not stated. Articles 98 and 99 do not use that wording, and Article 102(3) gives insurance a 30-day tail.⁴ Ask RTA.

Driving on expired registration is schedule item 25: AED 500 and 4 black points. The impound cell reads “7 days for light vehicles, 7 days if registration expired more than 3 months ago”. Item 22, no insurance or an unlicensed vehicle, is AED 500, 4 points and 7 days.¹³ Resolution 178 Article 8 impounds a vehicle stopped on the road more than three months after expiry until restrictions are paid and the licence is renewed.¹⁴ Whether item 25 applies after 2026 is on the traffic fines guide.

Insurance length is 6 months now and the full period plus 30 days from 2027

RTA’s line today: “Your insurance must be valid for at least 6 months, including this grace period”.² A second RTA service page repeats 6 months.¹⁵ Resolution 174 sets a different rule from 1 January 2027: the whole licence period plus 30 days.⁴

The Vehicle Licence shows the insurance details.² The start and end dates of any one policy are for the insurer to confirm. This page recommends no level of cover. The unified policy guide and comprehensive against third party set out what the texts say.

Transfers from 2027. If the seller takes the policy back, the buyer gives a new policy matching the licence period. If not, the buyer’s licence runs for the remaining term of the policy. A new one-year licence needs inspection and a new policy (Art 113).⁴

The three-year inspection exemption has four wordings

In Dubai the inspection certificate is valid for 30 days and tyres for up to 5 years from manufacture. Damaged tyres must be changed to pass.² Booking is needed for renewal, with exceptions, and RTA expects a light vehicle inspection to take 32 minutes. An appeal goes to the Technical Inspection Committee, which decides after 5 working days. That decision is final until a new request after repairs.⁷

Fines are paid first, starting with the vehicle that expires first

All pending fines on the vehicle must be paid. Fines on other vehicles in the same Traffic File need not be paid if issued less than 6 months ago. With two or more vehicles, the one that expires first goes first, either renewed or removed.²

Can you renew without paying your fines? RTA’s steps start with paying all traffic fines, and it lists no way to defer them. Dubai Police offers instalments, including through its app and Tabby.¹⁶ Ask RTA on 800 90 90 whether an instalment plan clears the vehicle for renewal. Current discounts are on the traffic fines guide.

Salik says a violation can be disputed up until registration is due or within the last 13 months, even if paid.¹⁷ See the Salik guide.

A vehicle registered in another emirate, with a residence visa from that emirate, cannot be renewed in Dubai. RTA sends the owner to that emirate’s licensing authority.²

Resolution 174 charges extra above two vehicles and caps residents at five licences

Press reports call this a five-vehicle limit.¹⁸ The Arabic Article 89(2) says individual residents may own two, and each additional vehicle registered or renewed attracts an additional fee, with no more than five licences per resident.⁴ Khaleej Times adds that the fee amount and the position of people already over five are not specified.¹⁹

Resolution 174 does not set the fee for the third to fifth vehicle, so the amount is UNKNOWN. Its text says individual residents and does not state whether citizens or companies are in scope.