Dubai drivers told some parking may still charge fees during Eid

Public parking free during Eid but some locations may still apply charges

Last updated: March 16, 2026 | 15:46

Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor

2 MIN READ

A view of the City Walk in Dubai. Parkonic launches VIP pre-booked parking at City Walk Boulevard

Dubai: Dubai motorists planning to rely on free parking during the upcoming Eid holiday may need to double-check signage at certain locations after a private parking operator said charges could still apply in some areas.

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Parking operator Parkonic said in a social media update on Monday that parking conditions may vary depending on the location and that fees may still apply during public holidays.

The company advised drivers to review local parking terms before leaving their vehicles.

“Parking conditions may vary by location and parking fees may still apply during public holidays,” the company said. It also urged motorists to check applicable terms through official signage or through the Parkonic website.

RTA confirms free public parking

The update comes on the same day that Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority announced free public parking across the city during the Eid Al Fitr holiday period.

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Authorities confirmed that all public parking spaces will be free from the first to the third day of Eid. Charges will continue to apply at multi storey parking facilities during the same period.

Regular parking tariffs will resume starting from the fourth day of Eid, according to the RTA announcement issued on Monday.

Private parking rules may differ

Parking areas managed by private operators sometimes follow separate tariff structures depending on the property owner or operator managing the facility.

Parkonic said motorists should review local signage carefully to avoid confusion over whether charges apply at specific sites during public holidays.

Gulf News reached out to Parkonic seeking further clarification on the locations where fees may still apply and the tariff structure involved. The company had not responded at the time of publshing this story.

Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

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