From 1 January 2027, UAE residents face a new vehicle licensing cap: two cars at standard fees, an additional fee on cars three to five, and a hard ceiling of five licensed vehicles per person. Here is what every multi-car owner needs to know before the deadline.
Picture a Dubai garage with a used Mercedes G 63 sitting next to a Range Rover and a Lamborghini Huracán. All three registered in one name. From 1 January 2027, that third car will cost more to license than it does today, and if you have a fourth or fifth vehicle in your name, each of those will also carry an additional fee. Try to register a sixth, and the answer from the authority will simply be no. Cabinet Decision No. 174 of 2026 - the Executive Regulation of Federal Decree-Law No. 14 of 2024 on traffic - rewrites the rules for every individual resident holding more than two registered vehicles in the UAE.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules take effect 1 January 2027 and details, including fee amounts, may change; confirm with the RTA, MOI or your emirate's licensing authority before acting.
Article 89 of the new regulation is the clause that matters. Reported consistently by Gulf News, Khaleej Times and Arabian Business in November 2026, it establishes a two-vehicle standard allowance for individual residents, an additional fee on vehicles three through five, and a hard cap of five licensed vehicles per person. The WAM announcement published on 4 November 2026 confirmed the regulation takes effect on 1 January 2027 and replaces Ministerial Resolution No. 130 of 1997. The official text of Cabinet Decision No. 174 of 2026 is expected to be published on the UAE Legislation portal once it becomes available.
Not legal advice
Article 89 of Cabinet Decision No. 174 of 2026 sets out a tiered licensing structure for individual residents. The structure is straightforward:
The regulation applies to individual residents. As reported by Gulf News, Article 89 sets no equivalent cap for companies or trade-licence holders, though that position should be confirmed directly with the relevant licensing authority before any decisions are made.
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No. As Arabian Business reported, the five-car cap limits licensed vehicles, not owned vehicles. Ownership and licensing are legally distinct. You can own more than five cars as a UAE resident. The practical consequence, however, is severe: a car that is not registered cannot be driven on a public road. It can be stored in a private garage or on private land, but it has no legal road presence and cannot be insured for road use. For weekend-driver and collector scenarios, this distinction is real but limited - a Rolls-Royce or a Ferrari sitting in a temperature-controlled bay has value, but not mobility.
One additional restriction worth noting: right-hand-drive vehicles cannot be licensed for road use at all, regardless of the five-car allowance. As reported by Emarat Al Youm and Gulf News, right-hand-drive cars are permitted for display only. This directly affects anyone holding UK-specification or Japan-specification imports, since those vehicles will not count toward your five-car road-legal allowance even if they are in your name.
The honest answer: no one outside the Cabinet knows yet. No official publication has named the additional fee for vehicles three, four or five under Article 89. That figure is expected to be confirmed closer to the 1 January 2027 implementation date. What we can offer as a baseline is the current Dubai fee structure, which applies today and is the starting point from which 2027 costs will diverge.
The AED 370 renewal fee is therefore your baseline for cars one and two. For cars three through five, you will pay AED 370 plus the unpublished additional fee. Watch the RTA vehicle registration services page and the UAE Government's registering vehicles portal for the official fee schedule when it is released. One existing RTA rule that multi-car owners should already be aware of: if you own two or more vehicles, you must always start by renewing or removing the vehicle in your Traffic File that expires first. Renewal opens up to 150 days before the expiry date.
Gulf News reported that Article 89 sets no equivalent five-car cap for companies or trade-licence holders. That fact alone will lead many readers to consider whether moving a vehicle into a company name is a practical route around the individual cap. Before considering that path, you must understand what it actually involves.
Moving a car from your personal name into a company name is a change of ownership. It is not a simple administrative update. In Dubai, the RTA requires a technical inspection for any change of ownership. It also creates a new insurance requirement: the policy on a personally owned vehicle does not automatically transfer when the registered owner changes. That means arranging new commercial or fleet insurance before the vehicle can be legally driven. Our guide on how to transfer car ownership in Dubai covers the step-by-step process. The key message: ask your emirate's licensing authority for written confirmation before initiating any transfer, and read our car insurance guide for used cars in the UAE so you understand the implications for your cover.
Do not treat company registration as a simple loophole. The legal, insurance and administrative consequences of a change of ownership are real, and the regulatory position on company-held vehicles may be clarified further before January 2027.
Article 98 of the new regulation introduces an optional two-year registration for certain light vehicles. The conditions, as reported, are: the vehicle must have been new at the time of first registration, it must be no more than six years from its manufacture date, and the option is available to individuals only - not companies. The licensing authority retains discretion on each application. Whether the two-year option changes the per-year fee is not yet confirmed.
In practice, this means a vehicle manufactured and first registered in 2026 comfortably qualifies when the law takes effect on 1 January 2027 - it is less than one year from manufacture. A vehicle built in 2019 does not qualify, because it will be more than six years from manufacture by 2027. The two-year option is worth considering if you are buying new: brand-new SUVs that qualify for two-year registration on Carzle include 2026 Range Rovers with under 100 km, listed from AED 675,000. A vehicle like that, bought new today and first registered in 2026, would sit well within the six-year window on 1 January 2027.
If you currently have three, four or five cars registered in your name, the period between now and 31 December 2026 is your window to get organised. Here is a practical checklist:
Several important aspects of the new regulation remain unresolved as of November 2026. No outlet has published official clarification on any of the following:
Monitor the WAM official portal and the UAE Government registering vehicles page for updates. The official text of Cabinet Decision No. 174 of 2026 is expected to appear on the UAE Legislation portal once published.
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Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and is not legal, financial, tax or insurance advice. Prices, specifications and availability are indicative, vary by trim and GCC specification, and change without notice - confirm current figures with the selling dealer. Government fees, registration, import, customs and traffic regulations are subject to change; always verify current requirements directly with the relevant UAE authority (RTA, MOEI, Customs, your emirate's traffic department) or your insurer before acting. Carzle is a marketplace: vehicles are listed and sold by independent dealers, and Carzle is not a party to any sale.
