UAE | Traffic and Transport
Car rental firms suffer Salik impact
Car rental companies will have to bear the cost of the road toll, according to a decision taken by the Dubai Car Rental Group recently.
- By Mariam M. Al Serkal, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:05 June 23, 2007
- Image Credit: WAM
- Short-term rentals will be charged each time they pass the toll gates. Vehicles on long-term leases will be charged an extra 10 per cent each time they pass the gates.
Dubai: Car rental companies will have to bear the cost of the road toll, according to a decision taken by the Dubai Car Rental Group recently.
The group comprises 55 car rental companies representing 85 per cent of the sector in the UAE.
According to a Group member, the companies will be able to monitor the number of times customers had passed the toll gates from the Salik website.
Gulf News spoke to car rental companies in Dubai to get their views on the policy they would follow when the road toll comes into effect on July 1.
Rajesh Arora, manager of Thrifty Car Rental, said they are buying Salik tags for short term customers, but companies leasing their cars will have the choice to purchase it or not.
"But if we do provide the tags then customers will be charged an administrative fee, which would be a marginal one to cover the administrative costs," he said, noting that it would also be their responsibility to maintain the Salik account at the minimum of Dh20.
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"How are we expected to give our customers all the road tags? We have to contact customers and inform them that we have to put the tags on their car. It is a logistics nightmare. I am praying that Salik will go away because we cannot absorb the costs," said the manager of a rental firm.
Sunil Kumar, operations manager at Hertz Rent A Car, said the company has sent text messages to customers informing them that they will be provided with the Salik tags.
"About Dh600,000 has been spent on purchasing the Salik tags, which is a big [amount] initially. I don't think the toll system will have an effect now but it probably will in the long run. The infrastructure has to improve and more bridges and roads should be available," he said.
Short-term rental vehicles will only be charged for the times they pass the toll gate, according to Kumar. Vehicles on a long-term lease will be charged an extra 10 per cent when passing the toll gate, amounting to Dh4.40 for each entry.
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