Guide · updated 31.07.2026 · 14 min read · Lucent Legal team

Car Rental in Dubai: Deposit Not Returned, "We Found a Scratch," Marked-Up Fines — What to Do

You picked up a car in Dubai, returned it with no issues — and a week later the rental company goes quiet on your security deposit, or sends you a photo of a scratch you're pretty sure wasn't there. Short answer: under a Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) circular, the deposit has to be refunded within 30 days of the car's return, and if the company just stalls with no explanation, you file a complaint with the DET hotline on 600 545 555. Dubai's rental market is huge — everything from global brands to small local outfits — and practice varies a lot between them. Below: what the law and market practice actually say about deposit refund deadlines, how damage claims get justified, who pays for Salik and traffic fines, and where to go if the rental company simply stops answering.

Deposit: how long to wait, and when it's already a violation

A security deposit on a Dubai car rental is standard practice, not the company overstepping — it's a financial guarantee against fines, damage, or unpaid bills, and charging it is legal on its own. The real question isn't whether a deposit is allowed, but how long the company can sit on it after the car comes back.

Under DET Circular No. 1 of 2024, the money has to come back within 30 days of the car's return — in cash or bank transfer, not just as credit toward a future rental. If you have no outstanding fines, no disputed damage, and no missing fuel, and the company still drags past that window with no explanation, that's grounds for a complaint, not just "slow accounting."

Two scenarios are worth telling apart:

• The deposit is held while fines and Salik "catch up" — this is legitimate practice: some violations (especially camera-detected ones) don't register in the system instantly, and companies often wait 2-4 weeks for exactly this reason before releasing the deposit fully.
• The deposit simply isn't returned for months with no explanation at all — this is when it's time for a written complaint, and if that doesn't work, a DET complaint.

"We found a scratch": how damage claims usually get proven

The most common trigger for a dispute is a damage notice that arrives after you've already driven off and can't check the car in person. Formally, the company's right to withhold money for genuine damage is legal, but the burden of proving the damage wasn't already there at pickup doesn't fall only on the company — a strong position for the renter rests on your own evidence, not on the rental company's good faith.

The practical minimum to document at pickup, before you leave the lot:

1. A full walk-around video of the car with a readable plate number and the date/time visible on your phone screen in the shot.
2. Separate close-up photos of every side of the body, the wheels, windshield, and rear window — especially any existing chips and scratches.
3. A photo of the dashboard showing the odometer reading and fuel level.
4. Photos/video of the interior — upholstery, ceiling, mats — if there are already stains or wear.
5. A screenshot or copy of the handover form (rental agreement / handover report) with any existing damage noted, if staff record it — signed by both you and the staff member.

Do the same again at drop-off — whether or not staff are there to check the car with you. If a claim about a "new" scratch shows up days after you returned the car, your dated drop-off video is essentially the only thing that objectively proves the car's condition at that moment; don't rely on memory or the other side's good intentions.

Salik and fines: aggregator markups and who actually pays

Salik tolls and traffic fines always arrive first against the car's plate number — meaning formally against the rental company as the registered owner, not against you directly. The company then passes them on to the renter, and this is exactly the step where practice varies between companies and aggregators:

• Some companies add an administrative markup of AED 0.75-1.50 per Salik crossing on top of the base toll rate — the RTA toll rate itself is fixed; the markup is the individual company's own administration fee.
• For re-registering a traffic fine to the renter, some companies charge a separate administrative fee — one market survey puts this at roughly AED 50 per fine on top of the official violation amount.
• By one aggregator's estimate, markups and add-on fees like these can push the final rental cost 40-60% above the originally advertised price — this isn't a universal rule, just an illustration of how much practice varies.

No official government rate was found that fixes the size of this markup itself (as opposed to the Salik toll or the fine amount) — it's a term of the individual rental contract, not a law. So the markup is worth checking against the contract before you sign, not after the fine bill arrives. For checking the fine itself and its official amount by plate number, see checking UAE fines by plate number and Emirates ID.

Insurance and excess: what CDW covers, and what it doesn't

Basic rental insurance almost always comes with an excess (deductible) — the amount you pay out of pocket for damage before insurance kicks in. According to several market surveys, the excess in Dubai varies widely:

• At major international brands, the excess is typically in the AED 1,500-5,000 range.
• At local rental companies and on premium/luxury vehicle classes, the range is wider — figures up to AED 30,000 show up on some models.
• A "Super CDW" / "zero excess" option waives or reduces the excess for an extra daily fee — worth it if the car is expensive or you don't know the city well.

Important: CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) doesn't cover everything — market practice typically excludes damage to wheels and tires, the windshield (unless separate cover is bought), the underbody (off-road damage), and interior damage. What's actually included and excluded is set out in the specific contract, so read the exclusions section before signing rather than trusting the general word "insured."

Deposit vs. full prepayment: what to check in the contract

Besides the deposit amount and the excess, three contract clauses are worth checking explicitly, since they're the most common source of disputes:

Booking through an aggregator vs. directly with a rental company

Aggregators (rental marketplaces) are convenient for comparing prices, but the contract is ultimately with a specific rental company — that company is responsible for the deposit refund and fine handling, not the aggregator itself. A couple of practical takeaways follow from this:

• If there's a dispute, address the complaint to the rental company (the legal entity named in the contract), not the platform you booked through — the platform is usually acting as an intermediary, not a party to the contract.
• The aggregator's listed price may not include Salik/fine markups or the full excess amount — compare not just the final booking price, but the fine print on deposit and excess.
• Booking directly with a major brand usually gets you a more transparent, standardized excess than a small local company booked through an aggregator — but the brand's rental price is typically higher too.

Where to complain if the rental company won't respond

If a direct complaint to the company (email/WhatsApp with the problem described and photos/video attached) hasn't worked within a reasonable time, the next step isn't court — it's the relevant government body:

1. Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET, formerly DED) — consumer rights hotline 600 545 555, or a complaint through the consumerrights.gov.ae portal. This is the body specifically responsible for consumer rights in commercial disputes, including car rentals.
2. If DET doesn't resolve the dispute, or the amount involved calls for formal proceedings — Dubai Courts, which has a simplified amicable settlement procedure before a full civil claim.
3. Separately from the regular Dubai court system, there's the DIFC Small Claims Tribunal — a simplified process for disputes up to AED 500,000, but it only applies if one of the parties is registered in DIFC or the contract references DIFC jurisdiction; for an ordinary rental from a local company outside DIFC, this generally doesn't apply.

If the amount in dispute is significant (a large deposit, an expensive damage claim) and the rental company is sticking to its version of events, this is the point where it's worth consulting a lawyer who can review the actual contract and evidence, rather than relying only on call-centre correspondence. Similar logic applies to debts between private individuals in the UAE — the general recovery process is covered in how to recover a debt from someone in the UAE.

If the car was in an accident

A separate and more serious situation is a road traffic accident during the rental (not just a scratch, but a collision involving another vehicle). Here the process is governed not by the rental contract but by the general rules for drivers in Dubai — police, a case number, documents for the insurer — a topic covered separately: car accident in Dubai — what to do.

This material is for information only and is not legal advice. UAE law changes — a lawyer will assess how it applies to your situation.