What is Salik?
Salik is the name of Dubai’s automatic road toll collection system which was launched by Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) on July 1, 2007. It is based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and it automatically deducts a fee when a toll gate is passed. It is currently in use around Dubai. When you drive underneath a Salik gate with a Salik tag attached to your vehicle, it will automatically deduct AED 4 from your registered Salik account. There is no daily limit on the number of times you cross a Salik gate after 2013.
Currently, there are currently eight Salik gates in operation around Dubai. They are:
- Maktoum Bridge (Umm Hurair Road)
- Al Garhoud Bridge (Sheikh Rashid Road)
- Al Safa (Sheikh Zayed Road)
- Jebel Ali (Sheikh Zayed Road)
- Al Barsha (Sheikh Zayed Road)
- Airport Tunnel (Beirut Street)
- Al Mamzar North*
- Al Mamzar South*
* These two gates are in quick succession. If you drive under both within an hour, you will only be charged once.
How to sign up for Salik?
There are two methods:
- Register for a prepaid Salik account on the official website and then apply for the RFID sticker tag. Followed by this, registration payment must be made. The cost is AED 100, including AED 50 for your Salik tag and AED 50 as the prepaid credit. Also, an additional cost of AED 20 as courier fee is applied to have the Salik tag delivered to your address.
- Salik tag can be purchased from petrol stations or from RTA facilities. The benefit is that when you buy from one of these outlets, it will cost AED 100 out of which it will be preloaded with AED 50.
How to top up the Salik account?
This can also be done by two ways; either from petrol stations/RTA facilities that sell tags or online.
The RTA also sends reminders to the registered phone number whenever the balance is low. But you can check your current Salik balance by:
- Using the Smart Salik app
- Visiting Salik’s official website
- Using telephonic services (Call on 800 72545)
The maximum amount of money, one can have in their account is AED 50,000. The validity of this balance is up to five years.
Salik is basically for the convenience of the people of Dubai so that they don’t have to pay the toll taxes manually.
