News Dubai

RTA clears the air on Salik penalties
By Joy Sengupta
19 June 2007

DUBAI — In an attempt to clear confusion over Salik, the new toll system in Dubai, Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) yesterday stated that people who pass through Salik gates without credit in their Salik cards will be exempted from penalty if they go in for a recharge within two working days. The toll system will come into effect on July 1.

Officials said the RTA was expecting an annual turnover of Dh600 million through Salik.

Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the RTA Board of Executive Directors, said, “There might be cases when people run out of balance in their accounts. They are bound to be fined while passing through a Salik gate. But we will give them two working days to recharge. If they do it, they will be exempted from the fine. But if they don’t recharge, they will have to pay up.”

Al Tayer added that the vehicles used by the institutions for people with special needs will not be charged.

“Also, the personal vehicles of individuals with special needs are exempt from the toll. But then they will have to provide a certificate from an accredited medical institution. If a person has got more than one car, he can fill one application form for the number of cars he has. But then each car will have a Salik card. The maximum limit of the toll fees will be Dh24 a day. Once the motorists reach the amount, they can have a free crossing for the rest of the day,” said Al Tayer.

The vehicles registered as military, police, ambulances, school and college buses and public buses are exempted. The taxis are not exempted and the passengers will have to bear the toll fees, provided they are willing to use the road where the toll gates are located.

“The passengers have the full liberty to choose the roads through and we are coordinating with the taxi companies. The drivers should not act smart with the passengers. They will be under our supervision. There are many tourists coming to Dubai and they use the rent-a-car service. We have asked the companies to put Salik cards on their cars. It is the responsibility of the rent-a-car companies. With regard to the payment, the person taking the car on rent and the company can decide upon an agreement between themselves,” opined Al Tayer.

The official said the toll system is also applicable to motorbikes and other two wheelers. “The Salik card should be pasted in the windshield off the bike if it has got one. If a bike does not have a windshield, we will process the same through the registration number of the bike,” he added.

SALIENT FEATURES
The Salik card should be pasted 1cm below the front mirror of the car.

The price of the Salik card kit is Dh100. Dh 50 will be deducted as an initial cost for the account and the other half will be considered as credit. The motorists will be notified through SMS when their accounts need to be recharged. They will receive the first SMS when the credit is Dh30. and the second when the credit is Dh20. The third SMS will alert the motorists that the credit is zero. They will also receive an SMS in case they are fined. The motorists can check their accounts through the toll system dedicated website salik.ae or by calling 800-72545.

There will be two kinds of fines. The first one is for motorists who do not stick tags to the wind shield. The fine will be Dh100 for the first day, Dh200 for the second day and Dh400 for the third day. Any additional fine will not exceed Dh 400 limit. The second is for motorists who already having a tag but have run out of credit. They will be fined Dh50 for each entry. But then they can escape the fine if they recharge within two days and the Dh50 will be automatically transferred into the credit. In this case too, they will receive the SMSs.

If a tourist prefers to ride his own personal car and has to buy a tag, it will be activated for several years. In case the car window is not damaged, he can keep the credit of the car even if he comes back to Dubai after several years.

In the case of the sale of the car, the owner should remove the tag from the wind shield. People should call Salik customer service for deactivation.

The vehicle owner needs to pay up for a new tag if the existing tag is damaged or lost. The owner of the vehicle is responsible for any toll violation regardless of who was driving the vehicle.