We got you covered with the many ways to pay for parking in Dubai, but if you find yourself venturing to the UAE’s capital, you will need to find a way to pay for parking there.
This is important to know as the system used for paid parking in Dubai is different to the one in Abu Dhabi. Also, no one wants to get fined for not paying a few dirhams for parking.
So here’s how to pay for parking in Abu Dhabi:
Note down the type of parking zone you’re in
If it’s black and blue, it’s Standard and priced at 2 AED/hour or 15 AED for the whole day. It’s free on Fridays and public holidays. Parking is available 24 hours and there’s no limit to your stay.
If it’s white and blue, it’s Premium and priced at 3 AED/hour. It’s limited to 4 hours at a time and is valid from 8am til midnight, all year round.
Cash
There are Mawaqif machines in parking zones and you can easily pay in cash (just follow the instructions on the machine).
SMS
You can pay for parking via SMS by simply sending an SMS to 3009 with the following details:
City & Plate Code <space> Plate Number <space> Parking Type <space> Duration
City and Plate Code (eg. DXB O, AUH 18 etc)
Plate Number (eg. 97532)
Parking Type (S for Standard, P for Premium)
Duration (number of hours)
So an example SMS you’d send would look like this: ‘AUH18 97532 P 1’.
Once your SMS is sent, you’ll receive a confirmation message and can carry on with your day.
What about extensions/expiry? Don’t worry - you’ll get an SMS 10 minutes before expiry. You can easily extend by typing E and ‘replying’ to the notification SMS.
For this SMS, you’ll be charged standard rates.
Mawaqif prepaid card
You can also pay using your Mawaqif prepaid card which can be obtained from Customer Happiness Centres. This card costs 50 AED.
Darbi App / Darbi website
Darbi is Abu Dhabi’s traffic app and you can easily pay using the app. The steps will vary depending if you’re a registered user or not. It’s quick and easy to do in either case. Download the Darbi app on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/ae/app/darbi/id840100351 or Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dot.darbmobile&hl=en&gl=US