Hourly car rentals now in Dubai

Soon enough, you’d be able to rent cars on a hourly basis in Dubai, as per a new resolution issued by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council.

Resolution No 49 of 2016 aims to provide alternative affordable public transportation solutions to suit the needs of the driving community in Dubai. According to Mattar Al Tayer, who is the director-general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA, the new facility will allow public transport users, such as metro and tram users, to pick up and drop rental cars, at the associated bus or metro stations. And by charging customers on an hourly basis, their travel expenses will be much less than the taxi fare.

Currently, car rental companies such as Hertz Rent A Car and Avis Rent A Car, rent out cars for a minimum of 24 hours, regardless of whether the customer uses it for one hour or 24 hours. But under the hourly system, the cars can be rented for a minimum of one hour per day and a maximum of six, but can be driven only in Dubai. The hourly system is hoped to encourage use of public transport, while helping achieve integration between different modes of transport and reduce the number of private car ownership.

The resolution requires the car rental services in Dubai to obtain an annual permit from RTA’s Licensing Agency and permits for the cars for hire too. They also emphasized the fact that all such cars must be insured and should be rented, only to individuals who hold a RTA-recognised driving licence.

As per the resolution, both the company name and the maximum number of passengers allowed must be displayed on the car. The users must park these cars only in parking spots and locations designated by the authority. The companies are not allowed to display any advertisements on the car without obtaining a written pre-approval from the RTA’s licensing department.

These companies are obliged to install a special GPS-based system to monitor the movement and location of the rented cars. The companies are also required to join the RTA’s online information system for car rental services and must provide any statistics or reports requested by the licensing department.

Resolution No 49 will be published in the government’s Official Gazette, and will be effective 60 days after the date of its publication.

A company had already started hourly car rentals late last year to much fanfare, then quietly shut down shortly after that, likely because previous rules did not allow it.