Question: I recently rented a car in Dubai and lent it to my colleague for a day. He received three traffic fines during that time. The rental company has sent me an invoice for the penalties, asking me to pay them. My colleague is willing to cover the cost, but I want to ensure these fines do not appear on my record. How can I make sure my record stays clean?
Answer: In Dubai, traffic violations are penalised with fines, imposition of black points, confiscation of vehicles, suspension of driving license or cancellation of the same. In your query, you have not mentioned the nature of the traffic fines imposed on you by the car rental company. It is assumed that the traffic fines are imposed on the car of the car rental company due to traffic violations by your colleague.
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Therefore, the car rental company may have sent you the invoice for the fines to be paid. However, if the traffic fines include black points or any other serious traffic offences, you may have such black points attached to your driving license.
When renting a car, you must have provided the details of your driving license. Further, if required as per the terms and conditions of the rental car company, they might have requested you the details of the people who would be driving the rental car other than you. In case, if you have not provided the name of your colleague apart from yours, the rental car company may also impose fine on you for violating the terms of rental.
Further, the Ministerial Resolution No. (178) of 2017, related to Rules and Procedures of Traffic Control, states the nature of traffic violations, relevant fines, black points, vehicle retention, and suspension of driving licenses.
Therefore, as you are not aware of the nature of traffic fines, you may initially contact the car rental company to understand the nature of the fines, or you may also contact the Dubai Police or Road and Transport Authority of Dubai if the aforementioned traffic fines are on your driving license and if the black points are attached to your driving license whether the same may be transferred to the driving license of your colleague if you provide the details of your colleague who was driving the car at the time fines were levied.
Applicable Law: Ministerial Resolution No. (178) of 2017, which is related to Rules and Procedures of Traffic Control, provides for the nature of traffic violations, relevant fines, black points, vehicle retention, and suspension of driving licenses.
Ashish Mehta is the founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is qualified to practise law in Dubai, the United Kingdom and India. Full details of his firm on: www.amalawyers.com. Readers may e-mail their questions to: [email protected] or send them to Legal View, Khaleej Times, PO Box 11243, Dubai.