UAE may increase vehicle fees

UAE’s vehicle registration and renewal fees may increase significantly in the future if a proposal to regulate the use of cars is approved, said a report. The proposal was discussed during the Smart Mobility session at the second Government Summit held recently in Dubai, said the Gulf News report. The move comes as federal and local authorities consider ways to ease growing traffic congestion with restrictions on use of cars. It aims to encourage people to use public transport and reduce the number of cars on the roads. In UAE there is a car for every two people, which is a very high ratio, a senior official was quoted as saying. Mattar Al Tayer, chairman and executive director of RTA, said: “One way to control this is to introduce legislation which can make buying cars difficult.” Dubai had spent Dh7 billion ($1.9 billion) in infrastructure since 2005 but has also put in place tools like Salik road tolls to discourage people from using cars. The number of vehicles registered in Dubai alone was more than 1.2 billion in 2013, up from 1.1 billion over the previous year. Source: TradeArabia