Car Scrapping UAE: How to Scrap or Deregister a Car
In Dubai, the government fee to take a dead car off the system is AED 120. Skipping it can cost far more, because until the registration is cancelled, the car and every fine, toll and late fee attached to it stays in your name. That's the first thing to understand about car scrapping in UAE: the scrapyard is the easy part, and the paperwork decides whether you're actually rid of the car.
I've watched owners hand the keys and the Mulkiya to a tow-truck driver for a few hundred dirhams and assume the job was done. Months later, the traffic file still showed the car as theirs. Here's how to do it properly in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the Northern Emirates.
Car scrapping in UAE starts with the right certificate
When you deregister a car in the UAE, the licensing authority removes it from the traffic system and gives you a certificate to prove it. In Dubai, the RTA's Cancel Vehicle Registration service comes in three versions: a Possession Certificate for a car that stays in the country, an Export Certificate for one that leaves, and a Transfer Certificate for a move to another emirate. Once any of them is issued, the car can't legally be driven on Dubai's roads.
For scrapping, you want the Possession Certificate. The RTA lists it for damaged cars being transferred to a bank, an insurer or a scrap buyer, and for cars the owner won't renew, cars passing to someone who won't register them and cars kept off the road for repairs. It has no expiry date, and you can't drive on it.
Before you apply: fines, loans and inspection
The RTA won't cancel anything until the traffic fines on the vehicle are paid, along with any licensing fee difference. A financed car needs its mortgage released electronically, which means settling the loan with the bank first. If the registration has already expired, you also need an electronic technical inspection before the certificate is issued. Without a Dubai traffic file, you'll pay AED 200 to open one.
The inspection rule catches the owners I see most often. The car died, sat in a basement car park for a year with an expired registration, and now it has to be towed to a testing centre before anyone will cancel it. Deregister while the registration is still valid and that step disappears.
How to deregister a car in Dubai
You can apply on the RTA website, the RTA Dubai app or Dubai Now, at a Customer Happiness Centre, or at a registration and inspection centre such as Tasjeel or Shamil. Online, you log in with UAE Pass, choose Apply to Cancel a Vehicle Registration, select the Possession Certificate, pick the car and say whether you'll return the plates or reserve the number for a future car. The RTA lists the service time as instant, and the certificate arrives electronically.
The plates are where people slip up. You have to hand them over at a centre or through the RTA's delivery service, and if you don't do it within 14 days of applying and paying, the transaction is cancelled with no refund. If a plate is lost, you need a police report instead.
The fee depends on whose name goes on the certificate. Issued to you as the owner, it costs AED 120, made up of AED 100 for the certificate and AED 20 for the Knowledge and Innovation fee. Issued to a buyer, such as a scrap dealer, it costs AED 520, because a AED 400 possession transfer fee is added. In that case, the RTA says only the seller pays the fines issued in Dubai.
Expats face one limit. Residents can hold a maximum of three Possession Certificates across all channels, and a fourth needs a supervisor's approval at an RTA centre. Citizens and GCC nationals have no cap.
When export beats the scrapyard
A car that's worth little to a Dubai scrapyard can still be worth something to an exporter, and the RTA's export route is cheap. An Export Certificate for a light vehicle costs AED 70, or AED 140 with blue export plates. If ownership changes to a buyer at the same time, the total with export plates comes to AED 540. The RTA's own FAQ says the certificate is valid for seven days, and an expired one means a AED 35 chassis test. Export plates only allow driving on main roads leading out of the country, and window tint has to come off before export.
If the car is already abroad, you don't have to bring it back. The RTA will issue a Possession Certificate based on an Arabic letter from the other country's licensing authority, stamped by the UAE embassy there and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with an exception for GCC countries. No technical test is needed.
Abu Dhabi and the Northern Emirates
In Abu Dhabi, the Integrated Transport Centre runs the equivalent service on TAMM under the name Issue Vehicle Possession Cancellation Certificate. TAMM lists a fee of AED 200 and asks for your original Emirates ID, and you can apply with UAE Pass or at a service centre. For a car that's already outside the country, TAMM offers a Vehicle Clearance Certificate for AED 100 to cancel the plates.
Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain handle vehicle licensing on the Ministry of Interior's federal system, through the MOI UAE app, its website and service centres. The same basics apply: clear the fines, settle any loan and return the plates. Confirm the current fee in the MOI app before you start.
Picking a scrap buyer without getting burned
The buyer you pick matters less than the order you do things in. My rule is that no car leaves your parking spot until a certificate exists, in your name or the buyer's. If a dealer wants the car transferred to them, let them pay the AED 520 and have the certificate issued in their name. If they only want the metal, cancel the registration yourself for AED 120 and hand over a car that's already out of the system. Either way, keep the plates until the RTA has them. A plate riding around in a stranger's truck is still your plate.
On price, get two or three quotes on the same day and tell each buyer you're comparing. In my experience, whether the engine and gearbox are still in the car moves the offer more than anything the seller says about its history.
What abandoning it costs instead
Leaving a dead car on the street is the most expensive way to get rid of it. Dubai Municipality fines owners AED 500 for abandoned or neglected vehicles in public places, sends a warning that runs 3 to 15 days depending on the location and condition, and impounds the car if nothing happens. It removed 1,387 abandoned vehicles and pieces of equipment in the first half of 2025 alone. In Abu Dhabi, the Department of Municipalities and Transport fines AED 1,000 for abandoning a vehicle body in a public space, rising to AED 2,000 and then AED 4,000 for repeat offences.
Also Read: Abandoned Cars in Dubai: Why They Matter and Where They End Up
After the certificate is issued
Remove the car from your Salik account so the tag stops charging. Once the certificate is in hand, call your insurer about cancelling the policy. Any refund depends on the insurer and how much of the term is left, so ask before you count on it. Keep a copy of the certificate, because it proves the date the car stopped being yours. In Dubai, it also stays in your personal file on the RTA dashboard.
The fees and rules here reflect current information from the RTA, TAMM, Dubai Municipality and Abu Dhabi's Department of Municipalities and Transport as of October 2026. The UAE government and emirate authorities can change fees, document requirements and procedures at any time, so check the official app for your emirate before you apply.
If I had a dead car sitting in a Dubai car park tomorrow, I'd pay the fines, release the loan and cancel the registration while it was still valid, then let scrap buyers compete for a car that's already out of my name. AED 120 and a trip to drop off the plates is a small price against a year of someone else's fines.
FAQs
1. How much does it cost to deregister a car in Dubai?
A Possession Certificate issued in the owner's name costs AED 120, including the AED 20 Knowledge and Innovation fee. Issued to a buyer such as a scrap dealer, it costs AED 520. An Export Certificate for a light vehicle costs AED 70, or AED 140 with blue export plates.
2. Do I have to return my number plates when I scrap a car in Dubai?
Yes. The RTA requires the plates to be handed over at a centre or through its delivery service within 14 days of applying and paying, or the transaction is cancelled with no refund. A lost plate needs a police report, and you can reserve the number for a future car.
3. Can I deregister a car with an expired registration in Dubai?
Yes, but the RTA requires an electronic technical inspection first, plus payment of all traffic fines and any licensing fee difference. That usually means towing a dead car to a testing centre, so cancelling the registration before it expires saves time and money.
4. How do I cancel a car registration in Abu Dhabi?
Use the Issue Vehicle Possession Cancellation Certificate service on TAMM, run by the Integrated Transport Centre. Log in with UAE Pass or visit a service centre, submit your original Emirates ID and pay the AED 200 fee. Settle any fines and car loan on the vehicle first.
5. What is the fine for abandoning a car in Dubai or Abu Dhabi?
Dubai Municipality fines AED 500 for abandoned or neglected vehicles and impounds them if the owner ignores a 3 to 15 day warning. In Abu Dhabi, abandoning a vehicle body in a public place costs AED 1,000, rising to AED 2,000 and then AED 4,000 for repeat offences.
