Paid parking in Dubai now runs on five live payment channels, the Parkin app, SMS to 7275, the Dubai Now and RTA apps, the Mahboub WhatsApp chatbot, and nol cards at enabled meters. Cash is no longer accepted at parking meters. The choice between these methods is not cosmetic: the app removes the AED 0.30 SMS fee and allows remote extension; SMS works without a data connection but leaves you without a live session record; the nol card is the only physical fallback when a phone is unavailable. The zone code on the sign, the facility type and the active session record determine whether a park is paid, free or fined.
Zones & Tariffs: What You Actually Owe?
Every paid bay carries a zone code, and that code sets the tariff. Zone A is roadside parking in busy commercial areas. Zone B is off-street commercial plots in the same districts. Zone C is roadside parking outside the main commercial zones. Zone D is off-street plots in those outer areas. A letter P at the end of the code—AP, BP, CP or DP—marks a premium bay, which carries a higher peak rate.
Peak hours run from 8am to 10am and from 4pm to 8pm, Monday to Saturday. Off-peak hours are 10am to 4pm and 8pm to 10pm. Standard peak parking costs AED 4.20 per hour including VAT. Premium peak parking costs AED 6.30 per hour including VAT. Off-peak rates depend on the zone letter: Zone A remains at AED 4.20 per hour, Zone B falls to AED 3.15, and Zones C and D fall to AED 2.10. The lower rate is not universal across all standard zones.
Since 1 June 2026, Parkin applies 5% VAT to on-street parking, off-street parking, seasonal cards, permits and reservations. The base tariffs have not changed; the VAT is added on top. A premium peak bay that was AED 6 before VAT is AED 6.30 after VAT. A standard peak bay that was AED 4 is AED 4.20. A lower-tariff bay that was AED 3 is AED 3.15.
Multi-storey car parks operate around the clock, including on Sundays and public holidays. The standard rate is AED 5 plus VAT per hour, capped at AED 40 plus VAT per day. Event zone X, used near Dubai World Trade Centre during events, charges AED 25 plus VAT. Mosque car parks marked M or MP charge around the clock but offer one free hour at prayer time. These facilities do not follow the roadside free-window rules.
The Parkin App: The Default Method for Residents
The Parkin app is the most capable channel. It lets you locate available bays, start and end a session, extend remotely, schedule a payment up to 30 days in advance, manage a Parkin wallet, review parking history, store permits and subscriptions, and pay or dispute fines. It integrates with UAE Pass and supports card and wallet payments.
The app’s practical advantage over SMS is that it removes the AED 0.30 SMS transaction fee and gives you a live session view. You can see the expiry time, receive a reminder before the session lapses, and extend without returning to the car. For a resident parking several times a week in paid zones, that difference matters more than the fee itself: the app reduces the chance of an expired-session fine because the session is visible and extendable from wherever you are.
The app is also the entry point for barrier-free facilities. At City Walk, parking is free for the first hour, then charged at a flat AED 5 per hour including VAT, deducted automatically from a Parkin account. The Boulevard section has a 30-minute free period. Without an active Parkin account, the automatic deduction cannot run, which makes the app a requirement rather than an option at these sites.
SMS Payment: 7275 Format and Limits
SMS payment remains live and is useful when you do not want to open an app or when mobile data is unavailable. Send the message to 7275. For a Dubai-registered vehicle, the format is plate number, zone code and hours. A car with plate D12345 in zone 1234 for two hours sends: D12345 1234 2.
For a vehicle registered outside Dubai, add the emirate code before the plate number. An Abu Dhabi car with plate 11 1234 parking for two hours in zone 343C sends: AUH11 1234 343C 2. The same pattern applies to Sharjah (SHJ), Ajman (AJM), Fujairah (FUJ), Umm Al Quwain (UAQ) and Ras Al Khaimah (RAK). Omitting the emirate code can cause the message to fail or the session to be recorded against the wrong vehicle.
The SMS tariff is the parking fee plus AED 0.30 per message. You extend by sending the same plate-zone-hours message again before the current session expires. The extension is not automatic. The confirmation SMS is your only proof that the session exists, and if the message fails—wrong zone code, wrong plate format, insufficient mobile credit—no session is created. SMS suits a short, predictable stop. It is a weaker choice for an all-day park because it gives no live session view and relies on network delivery for the reminder.
Dubai Now, RTA App & Mahboub WhatsApp
The Dubai Now app is the Dubai government’s unified services platform. It includes parking payment and permit management alongside fines, vehicle registration and Salik. The RTA app offers parking payment and fine management as part of its transport services. For a resident already using Dubai Now for DEWA bills or vehicle renewal, paying parking inside the same app removes the need to hold a separate balance in Parkin.
Mahboub is the RTA’s WhatsApp chatbot on +971 58 800 9090. You send the plate number, zone code and hours in the same order as the SMS format, and Mahboub starts or extends the session. It avoids the AED 0.30 SMS fee. The limitation is that it depends on WhatsApp being active and on the chatbot’s session flow, which is less streamlined than the Parkin app for repeat use. Mahboub is a reasonable option for a resident who already uses WhatsApp heavily and wants to avoid the SMS fee without installing another app, but it does not replace the app’s scheduling and history features.
Paying at the Meter with a nol Card
Cash is gone from the meters, but nol cards remain accepted at enabled machines. You insert the card, select the duration, and the meter deducts the fee from the stored balance. This is the only physical payment method that works without a phone, a data connection or a linked bank card.
The nol route has two constraints. The card must have sufficient stored balance; an empty nol card at the meter leaves you with no payment method at that machine. And nol payment does not give you the app’s remote extension or expiry notification. You are paying at the point of parking and returning to the car before the session expires, or topping up at the machine if the meter supports it. For a resident who already carries a nol card for the Metro and bus network, it is a useful fallback rather than a primary routine.
Seasonal Permits: When a Card Beats Paying Per Hour
A seasonal parking card replaces per-session payments with a fixed-period permit. The permit does not reserve a specific space; it removes the need to buy a session in the zones it covers. Dubai offers two principal categories: a General Permit covering Zones A, B, C and D, and an Areas Permit covering Zones B and D. The published base prices before VAT are AED 500 for one month, AED 1,400 for three months, AED 2,500 for six months and AED 4,500 for twelve months on the General Permit. The Areas Permit is AED 250, AED 700, AED 1,300 and AED 2,400 for the same durations.
With 5% VAT applied from 1 June 2026, a one-month General Permit costs AED 525, and a one-month Areas Permit costs AED 262.50. The annual General Permit at AED 4,500 before VAT is cheaper than twelve separate monthly permits at AED 500 each.
The choice between the two permits depends on where you actually park. The General Permit is correct if your routine crosses commercial and residential zones, or if you regularly use Zone A roadside bays and Zones C or D. The Areas Permit is cheaper and sufficient if your parking is confined to Zones B and D—typically commercial plots and associated off-street parking. Buying the Areas Permit when your routine includes Zone A leaves you paying per hour in Zone A while holding a permit you cannot use there.
Residential bays marked R are a separate permit category. They are reserved for residents with a valid Parkin R permit and are not covered by the General or Areas Permit. Visitors without the R permit risk a fine. In International City, eligible residential units without internal parking can apply for one free one-year permit per unit; the permit is linked to one vehicle and must be applied for through Parkin. Residents in other areas with R bays should check the Parkin app or the sign at the bay to confirm whether an R permit is required and what it costs.
Private Operators: When Parkin Rules Do Not Apply?
Not all paid parking in Dubai is managed by Parkin. Parkonic operates paid parking in several communities, including Discovery Gardens, Silicon Oasis, Palm Jumeirah Crescent and parts of JVC. These areas set their own tariffs, hours and free periods, and the Parkin app, seasonal permits and free-window rules do not automatically apply.
Discovery Gardens charges AED 4 per hour from 8am to 5pm and AED 6 per hour from 5pm to midnight. A monthly membership for a second vehicle is AED 945. Palm Jumeirah Crescent charges AED 10 per hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no free parking period. Silicon Oasis has zone-specific rates, with some zones charging AED 4 per hour until 4pm and AED 6 per hour from 4pm to 8pm. These are not Parkin tariffs, and a General or Areas Permit will not cover them.
A resident living in or regularly visiting a Parkonic-managed community should identify the operator from the signage before assuming the Parkin free window or permit applies. The practical consequence is that an evening or Sunday park in Discovery Gardens or Palm Jumeirah can be chargeable when an equivalent Parkin bay elsewhere would be free.
Free Parking Windows & Exceptions
Standard Parkin roadside and plot parking is free from 10pm to 8am every day, and free all day on Sundays and public holidays. Friday is a paid day. This applies to Parkin-managed public bays, not to multi-storey car parks, mosque car parks, private developments or Parkonic-managed areas.
Some specific zones extend paid hours. International City and Dubai Maritime City apply fees from 8am to midnight, with free parking on Sundays and the two daily free hours still in force, while the multi-storey facilities in those areas remain paid around the clock. The sign at the bay is the authority for that bay. A resident parking at 9pm on a Saturday in a standard zone and returning at 9am on Sunday owes nothing, because the Saturday session ends at 10pm and Sunday is free. The same resident parking in a multi-storey at 9pm on Saturday owes the multi-storey tariff for the entire period.
Extending, Overstaying & the Fines That Follow
An expired session or overstaying the maximum permitted duration attracts a AED 100 fine. Parking without paying at all attracts AED 150. Parking outside a marked bay or in a prohibited area is AED 200. Parking on the pavement is AED 200; double-parking can attract AED 400. Parking in a People of Determination space without a valid permit is AED 1,000. Evading payment by any method in a multi-storey car park is AED 1,000.
The extension mechanics differ by channel. In the Parkin app, you extend remotely from the active session screen. In SMS, you resend the plate-zone-hours message before expiry. Mahboub accepts an extension in the same format. At a nol-enabled meter, you return to the machine and purchase additional time. The app is the only channel that gives a live countdown and a remote extension option; the others depend on you remembering the expiry time or being physically present.
The most common failure is not a deliberate non-payment. It is a session that expired before the driver returned. The second most common is a session that never started: the SMS confirmation never arrived, or the app wallet balance was insufficient, and the driver left believing payment had been made. Checking that the session is active—not merely that a message was sent or a button was tapped—is the practical defence against both.
Paying & Disputing Fines
Parking fines can be checked and paid through the Parkin app, the RTA app, Dubai Now or the RTA website. The Parkin app allows you to pay a fine and submit a dispute with supporting evidence, using UAE Pass or a Parkin or RTA account. Disputes must generally be submitted within 30 days of the fine’s issuance date. The process requires the fine number and evidence that supports your position—a payment confirmation, a session record or a photograph showing the vehicle’s actual location.
The dispute route is not a general appeal against the tariff. It is for cases where the fine was issued in error, where payment was made but not recorded, or where the vehicle was not in the position alleged. A dispute without evidence is unlikely to succeed. For a resident who pays by app, the payment history and session record are the most useful evidence, which is a further reason to use the app for any parking you may later need to prove.
Which Method Fits Which Resident?
A resident who parks in paid zones several times a week should make the Parkin app the default. It removes the SMS fee, provides remote extension and expiry alerts, holds the payment history that matters if a fine is disputed, and is the required account for barrier-free facilities such as City Walk. Linking a card and keeping a small wallet balance avoids the failure point of a declined payment at the moment of parking.
A resident whose parking is occasional—a weekly trip to a commercial district, an evening in a zone where the session will not need extending—can use SMS or Mahboub without losing much. SMS is the more universally understood format; Mahboub saves the AED 0.30 fee but depends on WhatsApp. Neither gives the app’s session visibility, so both are better suited to short, predictable stops than to an all-day park.
A commuter with a fixed daily pattern in Zones B and D should price the Areas Permit against their actual monthly spend. At AED 262.50 per month including VAT, the Areas Permit is cheaper than twelve standard-zone sessions in most months. A commuter whose route includes Zone A should price the General Permit at AED 525 per month including VAT against the cost of Zone A peak sessions. The permit becomes the cheaper option well before the monthly cost is reached in hourly parking once off-peak and multi-storey parking are included in the comparison.
A resident in a Parkonic-managed community should not rely on the Parkin free window or a Parkin permit. The operator’s signage and payment channel are the authority for that bay, and the rates and hours can differ materially from the Parkin network. A resident who wants a physical fallback should keep a nol card with a positive balance; it is the only payment method that works at an enabled meter without a phone, a data connection or a linked bank card.
