Abu Dhabi toll gates: 15 things you should know

The Department of Transport in Abu Dhabi and the Integrated Transport Centre on Thursday announced the rolling out of toll gates in the emirate. (Photos: Four locations in Abu Dhabi where you have to pay toll)

Here are 15 facts you should know about the toll gates:

1. There will be four toll gates -- on Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Bridge, Al Maqtaa Bridge and Mussafah Bridge.

2. The toll system will be active from October 15.

3. The toll fee will be Dh4 for every pass during peak hours from Saturday to Thursday (7am - 9am and 5pm - 7pm).

4. During off-peak hours, on Fridays, and during public holidays, the toll fee will be Dh2 for every pass.

5. The toll collection system is operational 24/7

6. The daily maximum toll fee will be Dh16 per vehicle.

7. There will be no tags attached to vehicles. The amount due will be automatically deducted from a prepaid user account (the Integrated Electronic Payment wallet). Vehicles will be automatically identified by their plate number.

8. All road users should open a special toll account and through this account they will be able to manage their own vehicles and process payments due through a simple, user-friendly online system.

9. All Abu Dhabi registered vehicles on the official system registration launch, August 30, 2019, will have automatically registered accounts at no charge. Account holders will automatically receive an SMS message stating their user name and password for that account, and can then add any additional vehicles to the registered account as required.

10. For vehicles registered outside Abu Dhabi, the owner must be registered in the system before crossing the toll gates. In case a vehicle which is not registered in the toll gate system crosses under the toll gates, the user will be given a grace period of 10 business days, starting from the crossing time, to register in the system, otherwise a fine applies.

11. Users must have sufficient credit in their account when crossing the toll gate system. Vehicles registered in Abu Dhabi may pay the toll fee according to the post-payment system during any vehicle licensing procedure in case of insufficient balance. For vehicles registered outside Abu Dhabi with insufficient credit available in their user account, drivers have five business days to top up the account, otherwise a fine will apply as per the regulations.

12. Traffic fines for crossing the toll gate with a non-registered vehicle, after the 10 working days grace period, will be Dh100 for the first day, Dh200 for the second day, and Dh400 for the third day, up to a maximum of Dh10,000.

13. Crossing under the toll gates without sufficient balance in the user's account for vehicles registered outside Abu Dhabi and after the grace period deadline, will result in a fine of Dh50 incurred each day.

14. In case users tamper with the vehicle's license plate for the explicit purpose of evading the payment of fees, the fine is Dh10,000. Additionally, causing damage to any e-payment machines or toll gates, will result in a fine of Dh10,000.

15. Vehicle owners must always keep the information on their license plates visible and clear at all times to ensure correct data-reading by the system. They must update their personal and vehicle information in the account in the event of any changes occurring to that data within five business days.