Car ban postponed

The president of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, has postponed the ban on 20 year old cars. Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, the interior minister, announced on November 30 that the ban, which was due to begin today, will be postponed indefinitely.

According to Sheikh Saif, the president’s ruling came “in the right time so that concerned authorities undertake more studies […] this would guarantee more effectiveness when the regulations are implemented.”

He also added that the president’s order is meant to give low-income car owners more time to find alternative forms of transportation. But with Dubai’s metro still under construction, and the cost of taxis remain high, it is unlikely many drivers will have many alternatives.

The president’s decision, however, couldn’t have come at a better time. With banks making personal and car loans harder to get, low-income owners of cars older than 20 years were having a rough time finding funds to buy new cars before the December 1 deadline. They can now relax a little and come up with a plan.

Earlier this year, the National Transport Authority announced that cars older than 20 years will no longer be allowed on the UAE’s roads as of December 1. The law also states that owners of cars older than 10 years – more than 420,000 cars – cannot transfer their car registrations to anyone else’s name; and cars older than 15 years – more than 320,000 cars – will not be allowed on the road as of January 2010.

However, the announcement yesterday did not mention if the latter two laws will also be postponed along the first. But UAE drivers are hopeful. Considering the tightening on liquidity in banks throughout the nation, it is unlikely many car owners are keen on spending their own savings on buying new cars. –DB