UAE car buyer pays Dh4,200 traffic fine, seller backs out of deal

The Abu Dhabi Family, Civil, and Administrative Claims Court has ruled in favour of a plaintiff, obligating a vehicle owner to repay Dh4,200 in traffic fines that had been settled by another individual as part of an agreement to exchange vehicles. Despite the agreement, the owner of the vehicle with outstanding fines refused to complete the sale.

The court ordered the cancellation of the vehicle exchange contract and instructed both parties to revert to their original positions prior to the agreement. The defendant (the owner of the vehicle with fines) was also ordered to pay Dh11,700 in compensation for damages he caused to the plaintiff’s vehicle, and to have the traffic violations transferred to his own traffic file.

The plaintiff filed a lawsuit claiming that he had agreed with the defendant to exchange vehicles — each party would take ownership of the other’s vehicle — on the condition that the plaintiff would pay Dh4,200 in traffic fines on the defendant’s car.

However, after receiving the plaintiff’s vehicle, the defendant committed new traffic violations with it and caused damage. He returned the vehicle several months later without ever transferring ownership of his vehicle to the plaintiff, despite the plaintiff having settled the fines as agreed.

In his lawsuit, the plaintiff requested the annulment of the sales contract and sought Dh14,980 in compensation for repairs, the Dh4,200 paid in fines, the transfer of all violations and their consequences to the defendant’s vehicle and traffic record, and the formal transfer of vehicle ownership.

He supported his claim with documents including a copy of the vehicle sale agreement, traffic violation reports, and WhatsApp conversations.

The court stated that the defendant did not attend any hearings or submit a defense to refute the plaintiff’s claims, nor did he provide any evidence that he fulfilled his contractual obligations. As a result, the court had no option but to rule in favor of annulling the contract between the two parties and restoring each party to their pre-contract status, requiring them to return the respective vehicles.

The court assessed the compensation owed to the plaintiff for vehicle damage at Dh11,700, noting that expert reports confirmed the defendant had possession of the vehicle from the contract date until February of the previous year. Accordingly, the court ruled that all violations committed during that period must be transferred to the defendant and linked to his traffic file.

As for court fees and legal expenses, the court ordered the defendant to bear all costs in accordance with Article 133 of the Civil Procedure Law.