Abu Dhabi License Plate: Costs, Rules and How to Get One

If you're registering a car in the capital, the Abu Dhabi license plate sits at the centre of every form, fee, and inspection you'll face. The Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) runs the show, and the rules differ from Dubai in ways that catch people out. Here's what actually matters.

Quick answer

An Abu Dhabi license plate is issued by the Integrated Transport Centre under the Department of Municipalities and Transport. Standard plates cost AED 410 at first issuance, with a renewal fee of AED 300 every year alongside vehicle registration. You need Emirates ID, valid insurance covering the registration period, a passing technical inspection, and proof of ownership. Premium and short-number plates are auctioned separately and can run into millions. Plates stay with the owner, not the car, so you can transfer yours when you sell.

What the plate actually represents

A plate isn't just metal. It's your proof that the vehicle is registered with ITC, insured, and inspected to UAE federal standards under Federal Law No. 21 of 1995 on Traffic and its amendments. Drive without a valid plate or with an expired registration and you're looking at fines starting at AED 500 plus impoundment under Cabinet Resolution No. 178 of 2017 (the federal traffic violations schedule).

Abu Dhabi plates use a category code (1 through 50, plus letters A–Z for some series) followed by up to five digits. Lower digits cost more. A lot more.

The plate belongs to you as the registered owner. Not the car. This matters when you sell — you keep the number and reassign it, or you sell it separately.

How much an Abu Dhabi license plate costs

Standard fees, published by the ITC and updated periodically:

Costs (2024 schedule)
- New plate issuance: AED 410
- Plate renewal (annual, with registration): AED 300
- Vehicle registration fee: AED 365 (light vehicle)
- Technical inspection: AED 170
- Plate replacement (lost/damaged): AED 410
- Plate transfer between vehicles: AED 100
- Reserving a preferred number (online): from AED 1,000 to AED 35,000+ depending on digit count

Premium plates — the single, double, and triple-digit ones — are sold through ITC auctions held both online and in person. Plate "5" sold for AED 33 million in 2007 and plate "1" for AED 52.2 million in 2008. Those are records. Most "fancy" plates clear at AED 50,000 to AED 500,000.

Frankly, if you're buying a plate as a status thing, factor in 5% VAT on the auction hammer price and the standard issuance fee on top. People forget that.

Getting a new plate: the actual process

You need the vehicle first, or at least the documents proving you'll own it. Walk into any Abu Dhabi Vehicles and Drivers Licensing centre — the main ones are at Al Mafraq, Muroor Road, and Al Ain — or use the TAMM portal online.

Bring:

Emirates ID (original, not a photo)
Valid UAE driving licence
Vehicle insurance certificate covering 13 months minimum (the extra month is non-negotiable)
Sale agreement or import certificate
Technical inspection certificate (skip this for new vehicles under three years old — they're exempt from the annual test)
Customs clearance if the car was imported

In my experience the inspection is where people lose half a day. Tint percentages above 50%, illegal exhaust modifications, worn tyres — any of those and you're back next week. Test your tint before you book.

Most clients get the insurance part wrong. You can't register with a 12-month policy that ends the same day as your registration. You need that 13-month buffer or ITC rejects the file at the counter.

If the paperwork is clean, you walk out with the plate in 30 to 45 minutes.

Transferring, renewing, and selling your plate

Renewal is the easy part once you've done it once. Roughly 30 days before your registration expires you'll get an SMS. You can renew through the TAMM app, Abu Dhabi Police app, ITC website, or at any service centre. Online renewals take about 10 minutes if you've already cleared your fines and your insurance is loaded into the system.

Outstanding traffic fines must be paid first. No exceptions. Black points sitting on your file? Those don't block renewal, but they affect your licence separately.

Selling the car? You have three options:

Transfer the plate with the car to the buyer (rare — the plate now belongs to them)
Keep the plate and move it to another vehicle you own (AED 100 transfer fee)
Sell the plate separately through ITC's online platform or the Emirates Auction

Plate transfers between emirates need extra steps. An Abu Dhabi plate can't simply move to Dubai — you cancel the AD registration, get an export certificate (AED 100), then register in the new emirate. Budget a full day.

Watch out
Don't let your registration lapse for more than 30 days. After that, ITC can deregister the plate entirely, and if it's a premium number you reserved, you lose it. I've seen people lose plates worth six figures because they were abroad and ignored the SMS.

Premium plates, auctions, and the resale market

Abu Dhabi runs the most active plate market in the country. Emirates Auction holds physical and online sales monthly, and ITC's own portal lists fixed-price short numbers daily.

The pricing logic, roughly:

Five-digit plates: standard fee, no premium
Four-digit plates: AED 1,000 to AED 10,000
Three-digit plates: AED 30,000 to AED 500,000 depending on the digits
Two-digit plates: AED 500,000 to AED 5 million+
Single-digit plates: AED 5 million and up, with the lowest digits in the tens of millions

Repeating digits (7777, 8888) and "lucky" combinations command a premium. Plate category matters too — category 1, 5, and 15 plates trade higher than category 50 for the same number.

Resale is taxable. If you bought plate "X" at auction for AED 200,000 and sold it three years later for AED 500,000, the sale itself isn't subject to capital gains in the UAE for individuals, but if you're trading plates as a business you may fall within the new corporate tax regime under Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022. Worth checking before you build a portfolio.

Common mistakes that cost real money

A few patterns I see again and again:

Buying a plate without checking the file. Plates can have unpaid fines or holds attached. ITC's portal lets you search the plate's status before bidding — use it.

Assuming Dubai plates are interchangeable. They're not. A Dubai plate cannot be driven on a vehicle registered in Abu Dhabi, and vice versa. Cross-emirate registration is a process, not a courtesy.

Forgetting Salik and Darb tolls. Abu Dhabi's road toll system (Darb) automatically charges the registered owner. If you sell the car but keep the plate on a new vehicle, make sure the Darb account follows correctly or you'll pay tolls for a car you no longer own.

Letting an expat sponsor's residency expire. If your residency visa is cancelled, your vehicle registration is technically tied to that status. ITC has tightened checks on this since 2022. Sort the visa before you sort the plate.

Honestly, the plate system in Abu Dhabi is one of the cleaner government processes in the country once you know the rules. The friction is almost always at the inspection stage or in unpaid fines — both of which you control.

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Citations

[1] Federal Law No. 21 of 1995 on Traffic, as amended — UAE Ministry of Justice. [2] Cabinet Resolution No. 178 of 2017 on Traffic Violations and Fines. [3] Integrated Transport Centre (ITC), Department of Municipalities and Transport, Abu Dhabi — vehicle registration and plate services schedule. [4] TAMM Abu Dhabi — Vehicle Licensing services portal. [5] Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses. [6] Emirates Auction — official Abu Dhabi plate auction records.