How to start a car rental business in Dubai

Start a car rental business in Dubai: 11 steps

A trade licence alone does not let you rent out cars. Under Executive Council Resolution No. 47 of 2017, as amended by Resolution No. 2 of 2022, no company may conduct the activity in the emirate without a permit from RTA’s Licensing Agency.

The first five steps follow RTA’s service page, updated on 29 September 2026. They run from the initial approval by the licensing authority (the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, DET, or a free zone authority) to the Traffic File number, the activity permit and access to TARS.

The acts and the card we read do not set an order for the rest: office and parking, cars, Salik, DARB, documents and roles. From step 6 on, the order in the sign-off sheet below is our advice, with one exception from the implementing bylaw: the office, parking and cars have to meet RTA’s requirements before the company starts work, so they come before the first contract. Mark a step as done, and the steps that wait for it open.

On a new company’s path, only RTA’s decision on the application has a processing time in the sources we checked. The implementing bylaw gives the Agency up to 15 working days from a complete application. RTA’s service page gives 3 to 15 days for activities that require approvals and a separate time for activities that do not, and does not say which of the two applies to Car Rental. The sources give no time for the whole path, so we name none.

Rent a car licence in Dubai: two documents

A “rent a car licence” (or “license”) in Dubai is two documents from two bodies. The table follows RTA’s service page and Resolution No. 47 as amended in 2022:

The resolution lists “Renting out cars” as an activity, and renting through electronic platforms and smart applications as a separate line. RTA’s service pages call it Car Rental, activity number 5. On the page of the service for modifying a licence, Car Rental has “None” in the column for approvals from other government entities. The page for a new licence does not tie its processing times to that list, so we do not promise a faster permit.

The resolution covers the whole emirate, free zones included. Which jurisdiction to choose and who may own the company are questions for the licensing authority.

What the activity covers: RTA’s Car Rental card describes it as renting vehicles without drivers for a minimum of one day. Renting by the hour is not allowed. Hourly Car Rental is a separate activity, and the card bars a rental company from adding it, or passenger transport in luxury vehicles, to car rental.

Later changes also go through RTA. A new partner, manager, name, address or activity, or a suspension, needs an NOC through “Apply for an NOC to Modify a Trade Licence”. RTA’s page gives that NOC 90 days of validity and the service 3 to 15 working days.

Ask DET for the trade licence fee. RTA’s own fees are in the cost section.

RTA approval for rent a car: how to apply

The service is “Apply for an NOC for a New Trade Licence”. It is for new companies and branches, and for companies without a Traffic File.

Where to apply: on rta.ae, sign in with UAE PASS and pick the applicant type: owner, partner or typing centre. For a DET licence, enter its number or the Dubai Unified Licence (DUL) number, and the form fills in from DET’s system. The other route is the Invest in Dubai portal: choose “Apply” under “Activation of Transport activities”, then the Commercial Transport Activity Permit application.

What RTA asks for, by its Car Rental card:

• the initial approval from the licensing authority, or a copy of the valid licence for an existing company
• the approval of the competent authority, where the law requires one
• copies of the passport or identity card of the owner and every partner, and the residence permit of non-citizen partners
• an undertaking to follow the conditions of the activity

The steps for a new company, following RTA’s page. The numbers match the sign-off sheet above:

The time for the decision at step 2 is given above. RTA’s page says the result of this service, the permit for a DET licence or the NOC for a free zone licence, is valid for 90 days. The page does not explain how this relates to the one-year term of the permit under Resolution No. 47.

For a DET licence, RTA’s page describes two routes: applying with the number of a licence already issued with the activity listed as “Inactive”, or applying from the initial approval before the licence is completed. The table follows the second, the steps the page gives for a new company. The page also warns that issuing a new trade licence with an inactive transport activity exposes the company to a violation.

At step 5, create an account with a username and password on RTA’s website and log in with it at tars.rta.ae. The training material is there, and technical questions go to tars.support@rta.ae. Our TARS guide shows how to log in to TARS and register the first contract.

Rent a car licence requirements in Dubai

RTA publishes its requirements in the activity card for Car Rental. Under the implementing bylaw they become binding 30 days after publication, unless RTA sets another time frame. We read the card on 10 October 2026. Our advice: read it again before you buy cars.

Office, cars and parking: the resolution asks for office space, vehicles and car parks “appropriate for the authorised Activity” and in line with the Agency’s standards. Under the implementing bylaw, the Agency may ask you for an undertaking to provide them to the standards published on RTA’s website. The rules we read give no office size and no number of parking bays: ask the Agency.

How many cars do you need

The Licensing Agency determines how many vehicles a company may use. The current resolutions and RTA’s Car Rental card name no minimum, so confirm the number with the Agency before you buy a fleet.

Minimums quoted in older guides rest on Administrative Resolution No. 741 of 2016. A 2019 resolution repealed it, and the 2022 bylaw repealed the 2019 one. The 2022 bylaw keeps instructions under the 2019 resolution that do not contradict it, so we cannot rule out an unwritten minimum.

By the card, a rental car is registered in the emirate of Dubai, owned or leased by the company. A company may rent out cars it does not own only if they belong to a licensed rental establishment in Dubai. The sources we checked do not describe a procedure for registering a car for rental use.

How old can a rental car be

The limits for light vehicles, by RTA’s Car Rental card:

For a new car the card reads: “The vehicle life shall not be more than (3) years for manual or electric vehicles from the vehicle’s registration year.” We read “manual” as any car that is not electric, but the wording is unclear, so confirm your case with the Agency before you buy.

By the Car Rental card, cars on RTA’s approved Elite and Luxury lists get longer replacement terms, up to 10 and 7 years. According to RTA, its Commercial Vehicle Life Extension Service can add one year to a vehicle past its permitted limit, with the registration renewed once the car passes the technical inspection (Dubai Media Office, 24 April 2025).

The card also asks for:

• Insurance: comprehensive car insurance with an insurance company licensed in the country
• Tracker: a vehicle tracking system approved by the Security Industry Regulatory Agency (SIRA), with an installation certificate that you renew every year. Under Resolution No. 47 as amended in 2022, the fine for not installing the system is AED 4,000
• RTA’s systems: registration on the systems and platforms RTA approves, the TARS user guide and training on the rental information system. The card gives three hours at most to report a system failure. The three hours for rental data come from another act

Other items on the card: park the cars only where RTA has approved, put adverts on a car only with RTA’s approval, get the Agency’s approval before you move the office and keep records for the periods the Agency sets.

How much does it cost to open a car rental business in Dubai

Official sources publish RTA’s fees and the tax thresholds. The rest depends on prices from DET and the suppliers, so we do not give a total.

RTA fees for a new permit

RTA’s service page, updated on 29 September 2026 and checked on 10 October 2026, lists these fees for a new Car Rental permit:

The AED 2,000 line matches the first tier of the annual fee in RTA’s card, for fleets of 100 cars and below. The service page does not say that the two are the same payment.

Fees every year

By RTA’s Car Rental card, the annual fee grows with the fleet:

The card also lists AED 1,000 for renewing the permit and a training fee of AED 100. In Decree No. 22 of 2005 the same scale is the annual fee for the rental system. Resolution No. 47 as amended in 2022 sets AED 500 for varying the details of a permit and AED 100 for approving a business relocation.

What these numbers leave out

Lines for your own budget, at prices from DET and the suppliers:

• Before opening: the trade licence, RTA’s fees for a new permit, cars, a SIRA-approved tracker in each car
• While the company runs: RTA’s annual fee by fleet tier, the yearly tracker certificate, comprehensive insurance, office and parking, Salik tolls and a DARB balance, staff and taxes

Estimates in public guides disagree and are not primary sources, so we do not repeat them.

Two tax lines for the budget, for information and not advice:

• Corporate tax: none on taxable income up to AED 375,000, 9% above it, per the UAE Government portal
• VAT: registration is mandatory once taxable supplies and imports exceed AED 375,000 over the previous 12 months, or are expected to in the next 30 days. Voluntary registration starts at AED 187,500, per the Federal Tax Authority

To see what these costs mean for a fleet of your size, work out the break-even in the calculator below.

RTA rent a car rules and fines

The main rules sit in Resolution No. 47 as amended in 2022, in the implementing bylaw (Administrative Resolution No. 571 of 2022) and in RTA’s Car Rental card. Some duties from the resolution, not the full list: a rental company conducts only the activity in its permit, does not assign the permit or stop the activity without the Agency’s approval, puts its vehicles through inspection at registration and renewal, keeps records and gives RTA’s staff the information they ask for.

Lines from the schedule of fines in the resolution, as amended in 2022:

Under Resolution No. 47, a repeat of the same violation within a year doubles the fine, capped at AED 10,000. RTA can also issue a written warning, suspend the activity for up to six months or revoke the permit. A grievance goes in writing to RTA’s Director General within 30 days of the notice. Inspectors may enter the office, inspect the vehicles and review registers and documents. A company may suspend its own activity only with the Agency’s approval, for no more than a year per request.

Three hours for rental data: a 2012 resolution on the rental system, Executive Council Resolution No. 15 of 2012, requires rental data to be entered within three hours of leasing a car. Its schedule sets fines of up to AED 5,000 per violation. We have not confirmed how RTA applies that schedule to TARS today: ask the Licensing Agency.

According to RTA’s release of 24 March 2026, the unified rental contract applies to all car rental offices in the emirate. The contract is adopted once the person who receives the car verifies their identity with a one-time password (OTP) for a digital signature. By RTA’s account, the contract:

• records the details of the vehicle and the renter, and the car’s condition at handover and at return
• in RTA’s words, ensures that renters are not charged costs arising from accidents or during the repair period
• prohibits undisclosed fees: RTA’s example is “additional charges related to passing toll gates”
• requires the office to refund the security deposit within the specified time frame

The text of the contract itself is not public. Our advice: show the renter how you charge tolls and fines before you hand over the car.

What must work on day one

The permit gives you the right to hand over a car. By then the list below should work. Part of it rests on a rule, and the tracker and DARB carry fines. The rest comes from our practice in the system we built for ALVI, a car rental company in Dubai:

TARS

According to RTA, TARS covers all vehicle rental operations RTA oversees (Dubai Media Office, 24 April 2025). Access opens once you have the Traffic File number and the activity permit. Logging in, contract types and closing a contract are in the TARS guide.

Salik

Under the Salik bylaw, Administrative Resolution No. 361 of 2019, the user of the system is the vehicle owner, so a rental fleet’s account is the company’s. Each car gets its own tag, which may not be used on another car. From 1 June 2026 VAT of 5% is added to the toll tariff, per Salik Company’s disclosure of 22 May 2026. We have not checked the current terms of the operator, Salik Company PJSC, and give the principle only.

More in our guide Salik for company cars and rental fleets.

DARB

DARB is Abu Dhabi’s toll gate system. A crossing costs AED 4, some gates charge around the clock, and each car has to be registered. Abu Dhabi Mobility’s DARB page lists two fines that apply to a fleet registered in another emirate:

Our practical conclusion: a fleet on Dubai plates needs a DARB account with a balance before a car first drives to Abu Dhabi.

More in our guide DARB for company and rental vehicles.

Contract and forms

In the system we built for ALVI, the company’s own agreement is an addition to RTA’s unified contract, and the forms the customer signs are annexes to it. That is how the system is arranged, not legal advice.

The handover form records photos of the front, right side, rear, left side, cabin front, cabin rear and boot, the mileage, the fuel level, the VIN and checks for the keys, the car’s documents, the spare wheel or repair kit, the warning triangle and first-aid kit. Each photo carries the Dubai date and time, and the return form records the same set, so the car’s condition at handover and at return can be compared photo by photo. The handover form also prints the rules for charging tolls, parking and fines, so the customer sees them when taking the car.

Roles and money

Before the first handover, decide who hands over cars and takes payment, who registers and closes contracts in TARS, and who sees the cash and the bank. In the system we built for ALVI, a manager and a broker see the amounts of their own orders, but not other people’s customers, the cash desk, the bank or the overall finances.

GPS

The SIRA-approved tracker is a rule from the card. In that system, GPS also gives the fleet map, each car’s route and its mileage.

The whole list fits on one page: download the Day one of a car rental checklist, PDF.

Is a car rental business profitable in Dubai

RTA publishes the size of the sector, not profit, and its growth shows how much competition a new company meets. RTA’s figures, from a Dubai Media Office release of 24 April 2025:

In 2024, 867 new companies were registered. High-end vehicle rentals rose by 73%, and electric vehicles in the rental fleet by 50% against 2023. The figures cover the whole vehicle rental sector, heavy vehicles included, not car rental offices alone.

Each car brings in its daily rate times the days it is rented, minus its own costs: lease or loan, insurance, tracker, service. The fleet breaks even at the car whose contributions together cover the fixed costs: office, salaries, software. Put your own numbers into the break-even calculator below.

Before you rely on the result, add the costs specific to a rental company in Dubai: RTA’s annual fee by fleet tier and the fees for a new permit from the cost section, the yearly tracker certificate and your taxes.

How to run a car rental business day to day

This is not a general rule. It is how a working day runs in the system we built for ALVI:

• Handover: the customer agrees to the invoice, signs the rental agreement, pays and gets a receipt, signs the handover form and takes the keys. They sign with a finger on a screen, in their own account or on the employee’s device
• The contract: each contract keeps one number, and before sending it to TARS the system checks whether that contract is already in the portal. It is closed at return
• While the customer has the car: Salik tolls and Dubai parking are matched to the period between key handover and actual return, fines by their date inside the rental. The system tells “checked, no charges” apart from “the data did not arrive”
• Return: the customer signs the return form and gets the final invoice. Mileage above the contract’s daily limit is counted from the odometer and goes into the final invoice by itself

Before you pick a system, see how to choose car rental software in the UAE.

More on what we build for car rental companies.