Dubai: In Dubai, the nol card is much more than a payment method for the Dubai Metro or public buses.
Beyond swiping through turnstiles, your nol card doubles as a payment method. It offers a convenient way to manage various aspects of your daily life across the emirate, from paying for groceries to public parking. According to Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), you can also use your nol card at over 2,000 retail locations throughout the city. However, this benefit is available only with the blue, silver, or gold nol cards.
1. Pay for public parking in Dubai.
In case you do not have enough change in your wallet or balance on your mobile phone, you can use your nol card to pay for public parking through the parking payment machines.
All you have to do is insert the nol card into the card slot and enter your vehicle plate details like source (the emirate where your car is registered) plate code and number. Once that’s done, select the parking duration and the amount will be deducted from the nol card's balance.
2. Pay for taxi fares
You can also use the nol card to pay for almost every mode of public transportation in Dubai, such as the bus, Dubai Metro, water buses and as well as the RTA taxi.
In 2019, RTA announced that it had completed the installation of all Point of Sale (POS) devices in public taxis in Dubai. This means that passengers can use their nol car as an accepted form of payment in all public taxis in Dubai. Just hold your card over the POS device (card reader) and it will automatically validate the card and deduct the fare.
3. Pay for the Palm Monorail
On October 25, 2022, RTA announced that commuters can use the nol gold, silver or blue cards to pay for their journey on the Palm Monorail. Earlier you had to buy a separate ticket if you wanted to travel on the monorail.
4. Pay for groceries, restaurants and medicines
Public transport users can also use the nol card to pay for groceries, snacks from a convenience store, medicines from a pharmacy or a meal at a restaurant. There are over 2,000 food and retail outlets that have collaborated with RTA to allow customers to pay through their nol card. According to the RTA website – rta. ae, if you are using the nol card to pay for daily essentials, the maximum amount you can use it for is Dh200.
You can find all the retail outlets, restaurants, supermarkets, and convenience stores that accept nol cards, here: https://www.rta.ae/wps/portal/rta/ae/public-transport/nol/nol-merchants
5. Use your nol card to refuel your car
In 2017, RTA announced that motorists can choose to pay using their nol cards for refuelling and make purchases at all ENOC fuel stations.
6. Pay for your vehicle registration
According to the RTA website, motorists can use their nol card to pay for their vehicle registration and vehicle test at Tasjeel centres.
7. Pay for medicines
You can use your nol card to pay for medicine at various pharmacies in Dubai.
8. Pay for car repairs
You can use your nol card to pay for car repairs at Autopro centres across the emirate.
This article was originally published in April 26, 2023, and has been updated since.
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