Guide · updated 08.09.2026 · 13 min read · Lucent Legal team

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

You returned the car clean and on time, and a week later the rental company goes silent on your deposit — or emails you a photo of a scratch you never made. Short answer: a Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) circular gives them 30 days to refund the deposit, and if they stall with no reason, you complain to the DET hotline on 600 545 555. Dubai's rental market runs from global brands to tiny local outfits, so practice swings widely; here is what the rules and the market actually say about refund deadlines, damage claims, Salik and fines, and where to go when the company stops answering.

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

A deposit is legal — the only real question is how long the company can sit on it once the car is back.

A security deposit on a Dubai rental is standard, not the company overstepping. It's a financial guarantee against fines, damage, or unpaid bills, and charging it breaks no rule on its own.

DET Circular No. 1 of 2024 sets the limit: the money returns within 30 days of the car's return, in cash or bank transfer, not as credit toward a future rental. No outstanding fines, no disputed damage, no missing fuel, yet they drag past that window with no explanation? That's grounds for a complaint, not "slow accounting."

Tell two scenarios apart:

• The deposit is held while fines and Salik catch up — this is legitimate. Camera-detected violations don't register instantly, so companies often wait 2-4 weeks before releasing the full amount.
• The deposit simply vanishes for months with no explanation — now it's time for a written complaint, and a DET complaint if that fails.

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

Your own dated photos decide this, not the company's good faith.

The usual trigger for a dispute is a damage notice that lands after you've driven off and can't check the car yourself. The company can legally withhold money for real damage, but proving the damage wasn't already there at pickup doesn't rest on them alone. Your evidence holds the line.

Document this at pickup, before you leave the lot:

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

Repeat all of it at drop-off, whether or not staff check the car with you. If a "new" scratch claim shows up days after you handed the car back, your dated drop-off video is the only thing that objectively proves its condition at that moment. Don't lean on memory or the other side's good intentions.

Salik and fines: aggregator markups and who actually pays

Salik tolls and traffic fines hit the car's plate first, so they land on the rental company as registered owner — then get passed to you, sometimes with a markup.

That pass-through is exactly where practice diverges between companies and aggregators:

• Some add an admin markup of AED 0.75-1.50 per Salik crossing on top of the base toll. The RTA rate itself is fixed; the markup is the company's own administration fee.
• To re-register a traffic fine to you, some charge a separate admin fee — one market survey puts it at roughly AED 50 per fine on top of the official amount.
• By one aggregator's estimate, markups and add-ons like these can push the final cost 40-60% above the advertised price. That's an illustration of how much practice varies, not a universal rule.

No official government rate caps the markup itself (as opposed to the Salik toll or the fine amount) — it's a contract term, not a law. So check it against the contract before you sign, not after the bill lands. To check a fine 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 carries an excess (deductible) — the amount you pay out of pocket for damage before insurance starts. Several market surveys show how wide it runs in Dubai:

• At major international brands, typically AED 1,500-5,000.
• At local firms and on premium or luxury classes, wider — up to AED 30,000 shows up on some models.
• A "Super CDW" / "zero excess" option waives or cuts the excess for an extra daily fee, worth paying on an expensive car or in a city you don't know well.

CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) doesn't cover everything. Market practice usually excludes the wheels and tires, the windshield (unless you buy separate cover), the underbody (off-road damage), and interior damage. The specific contract sets what's in and what's out, so read the exclusions before signing rather than trusting the word "insured."

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

Beyond the deposit amount and the excess, three clauses cause most disputes — check them explicitly:

Booking through an aggregator vs. directly with a rental company

The contract is with a specific rental company, not the aggregator — so that company, not the platform, owns the deposit refund and fine handling.

Aggregators (rental marketplaces) make price comparison easy, but two things follow from where the contract actually sits:

• In a dispute, aim the complaint at the rental company (the legal entity named in the contract), not the platform you booked through — usually an intermediary, not a party to the contract.
• The listed price may leave out Salik/fine markups or the full excess, so compare the fine print on deposit and excess, not just the headline booking price.
• Booking directly with a major brand usually buys a more transparent, standardized excess than a small local firm booked through an aggregator — though the brand's rental price is typically higher.

Where to complain if the rental company won't respond

If a direct complaint to the company hasn't worked, the next step isn't court — it's the government body that handles consumer rights.

Send the company the problem in writing first (email or WhatsApp, photos and video attached). If that goes nowhere within a reasonable time:

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 responsible for consumer rights in commercial disputes, car rentals included.
2. If DET doesn't resolve it, or the sum calls for formal proceedings — Dubai Courts, which runs a simplified amicable-settlement stage before a full civil claim.
3. Separately from the regular Dubai courts, the DIFC Small Claims Tribunal handles disputes up to AED 500,000 — but only if one party is registered in DIFC or the contract names DIFC jurisdiction; for an ordinary rental from a local company outside DIFC, it generally doesn't apply.

When the sum in dispute is significant (a large deposit, an expensive damage claim) and the company sticks to its version, this is the point to consult a lawyer who can read the actual contract and evidence, not just the call-centre thread. The same logic covers debts between private individuals in the UAE — the general recovery process is in how to recover a debt from someone in the UAE.

If the car was in an accident

A real collision — not a scratch, but an impact with another vehicle — runs on traffic rules, not the rental contract: police, a case number, documents for the insurer.

That's a separate and more serious situation. It's governed by the general rules for drivers in Dubai, covered on its own: car accident in Dubai — what to do.

Topic: UAE Traffic Law 2026

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