Roads body denies climbdown on toll

The Dubai roads authority will not consider an evening waiver of its controversial ‘Salik’ toll charge, despite claims to the contrary by other government agencies.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is “considering waiving the toll between 10pm and 6am”, according to a statement issued by Dubai government’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).

Another statement on the website of the UAE state-linked news agency, WAM, confirms that this applies to the ‘road toll’.

The admission was made in a meeting between the DTCM and the roads authority, at which RTA boss Mohammed Obaid Al Mulla was present, according to both statements.

However, a spokesperson for the RTA categorically denied a move to waive the AED4 toll charge during off-peak periods.

‘This is not true – the whole system is 24 hours,’ the spokesperson told ArabianBusiness.com. ‘We are 100 per cent sure of it.’

However, a source at the DTCM said that an evening waiver was indeed under discussion. ‘It’s there in the minutes of the meeting. Could they have been talking about another charge? No, there’s no other toll in the city except this one.’

Such a climbdown on the road toll would be embarrassing for the RTA, which has insisted that the toll – charged to motorists passing through two gates in the city – will remain in force as initially planned: 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

ArabianBusiness.com has received dozens of comments from readers regarding the scheme. Some have questioned why Salik – which is designed to reduce jams – is also applicable at night and at weekends, when the roads are generally much less congested.

“Why is it that one has to pay when it's off peak time or when its a holiday? This is a total contradiction,” wrote one.

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