Not used Salik for a long time? Check your credit before its gone

If you have not used your Salik pass for a certain time, you will lose all the money in the account.

According to a report by Gulf News, there is a rule by RTA that if a consumer has not utilized his salik card in 36 months, all the credit in it will be wiped clean.

The report quotes a SMS received by a Dubai-based Omani motorist, which read “Your Salik account 33010024 has been inactive for 35 months. If no trips are charged to this account in the next 14 days, your account balance will be forfeited.”

Mohammad Ebrahim Al Awadhi, Director ITS, at RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency, says people have to use Salik only once in three years to save the money.

“The Salik credit will be forfeited should the user not pass the Salik toll gate over a period of three years. Secondly, as the time period of not passing under the toll gate is about to lapse {which is three years} he is notified through an SMS. Before the lapse of three years, if he passes even once, his credit will not be forfeited and he is again given a time period of three more years,” said Al Awadhi.

Another RTA official told Gulf News that there is no refund policy on Salik. “You cannot get refund of your money if you choose to cancel your Salik account at any stage,” he said.

“The RTA always claimed that Salik toll gates were installed to divert traffic and ease congestion on busy roads like Shaikh Zayed road and Al Garhoud bridge. They claimed that they want people to use alternative routes, but with this act it is clear that they only care about money and nothing else,” said another miffed motorist on condition of anonymity.

Earlier, Business Bay residents have raised complaints against Salik extortion.

So, for those who haven’t used Salik for a long time, your money in that account is not safe. This is another hidden cost of living in Dubai.