UAE 'Old Car Ban' Effective From January 2009!

UAE 'Old Car Ban' Effective From January 2009!
by Nabeel M. Ferzan on Sunday, 31 August 2008

Dubai's Road and Transport Authority (RTA) has made it clear that vehicles having a lifespan of 20 years or more will be banned from UAE roads from January 2009. The new rule will be strictly imposed nationwide according to Sultan Abdullah Al Marzouqi, the acting director of the Vehicles Licensing Department at the Licensing Agency of the Dubai RTA.

As per the recently announced Federal Law, starting January 1, 2009, traffic departments across the emirates will stop registering or renewing licences of vehicles older than 20 years. The owners will have the option to either scrap the 20-year old vehicles or export them to other countries. The law also states that from January 2010, vehicles older than 15 years will not be registered and their licences not renewed. Also, motorists with vehicles 10-years or older will not be able to transfer ownership, but will be able to renew it in their names.

According to data released by the RTA, more than 67,000 out of an estimated 1.8 million vehicles across all the emirates will be taken off the road from next year, once the rule is in place. The data also shows that the average lifespan of vehicles plying on the roads of the Emirate of Dubai is only 5.6 years and is much lower compared to the average age of vehicles on roads in the United Kingdom (6.7), United States (8), Australia (10.3) and Bulgaria (15).

The new rule will exempt only vintage and classic vehicles that are more than 20 years old. These cars will be allowed to be registered or have their licences renewed. Al Marzouqi has said that the RTA is currently working on a plan to make rules about vintage and classic cars. He added that there will be a dedicated section to decide whether a vehicle is classic before registering it.