A Mawaqif fine does not arrive as a paper slip under your wiper any more. It lands quietly in a system you have to go looking for, and it starts a clock the moment it is issued.
That clock runs for 60 days, and it governs both halves of this: pay inside it and you get 25 per cent off, appeal inside it and your grievance is heard at all. Miss it and you lose the discount, pick up penalties, and eventually find you cannot renew your vehicle registration.
Here is how to check whether you have one, what to do about it, and how to fight it if it was wrong.
How to Check for a Mawaqif Fine
Two official channels, both free, both instant:
- The Darb app. The same app that holds your toll wallet also lists parking violations against your plate.
- TAMM. Log in with UAE Pass at tamm.abudhabi and your fines show against your traffic file.
Check by plate, not by memory. Fines can be issued to a vehicle you have since sold, or to a plate misread by an inspector, and the first you hear of either is usually at registration renewal when it is far too late to argue cheaply.
WOW Expert Tip: Check once a month, not once a year. The 60-day window is short enough that a fine issued in March is already past appeal by the time you notice it in June – and the grievance route is the only way to get a wrongly issued fine cancelled rather than merely discounted.
What Mawaqif Fines Cost
Parking penalties in Abu Dhabi run from AED 100 to AED 1,000 depending on what you did. The commonly cited schedule looks like this:
| Violation | Fine |
|---|---|
| Using a ticket for the wrong zone, or an expired one | AED 100 |
| Parking where it is prohibited – driveways, hydrants, loading bays | AED 200 |
| Taking up two bays, or double parking | AED 200 |
| Parking on the pavement | AED 400 |
| Using a taxi or bus space | AED 500 |
| Parking in a People of Determination bay without a permit | AED 1,000 |
| Blocking a fire lane | AED 1,000 |
One caveat worth stating plainly: Abu Dhabi does not publish a consolidated parking penalty schedule online, so these amounts come from consistent secondary reporting rather than a government PDF. The figure attached to your fine is the one shown against it in the Darb app or on TAMM, and that is the number to work from.
Note also that there is a 10-minute grace period on paid bays before a penalty applies, which is the difference between a slow walk back to the car and AED 100.
The 25 Per Cent Discount and the 60-Day Clock
Pay a Mawaqif fine within 60 days of the issue date and 25 per cent comes off. On an AED 400 pavement fine that is AED 100 back for doing nothing except paying on time.
Two things people get wrong about this. The window runs from the date the fine was issued, not the date you discovered it – which is the whole argument for checking monthly. And you will find blogs quoting a 30-day window; that is out of date. Q Mobility, which runs Mawaqif, states 60 days.
Abu Dhabi Police traffic fines are a separate scheme with their own discount terms. Do not assume what applies to a speeding ticket applies to a parking bay.
How to Pay
The same two channels you used to check: the Darb app or TAMM with UAE Pass. ITC customer service centres around the emirate will also take payment in person if you would rather deal with a human.
Mawaqif customer service is on 800-850 if a fine will not settle or does not look like yours.
How to Appeal a Fine You Think Is Wrong
Abu Dhabi calls this filing a grievance, and it is a real process with a real success rate – not a formality. You have 60 days from the issue date to file.
- Log in to TAMM with UAE Pass, or open the Darb app.
- Go to the requests or grievances section and choose fines as the category.
- Select the specific fine you are disputing.
- Explain what happened and why the fine should not stand.
- Attach your evidence, then submit and keep the reference number.
Expect a decision in around seven business days.
What actually wins a grievance
Evidence, and specifically evidence with a timestamp. A dated photograph of your car in the bay showing a valid ticket on the dashboard. The SMS confirmation of your payment, showing the time. Proof the car was sold before the violation date. A permit that was valid on the day. A photograph of a bay whose markings or signage were missing or unreadable.
What does not win one: arguing you were only gone five minutes, that you did not see the sign, or that the machine was awkward. Those are explanations, not evidence.
WOW Expert Tip: If your grievance is rejected, you still have to pay inside the original 60 days to keep the 25 per cent discount. So file early rather than on day 55 – a grievance submitted in week one leaves room to pay at a discount if it goes against you, while one filed at the deadline does not.
What Happens If You Just Ignore It
The discount disappears at 60 days. After that the fine sits against your traffic file and accrues additional penalties, and unpaid parking fines will block your vehicle registration renewal. That is the point at which most people discover the fine they never knew about, usually with a queue behind them.
It is a cheap problem at 60 days and an expensive, time-consuming one at 12 months.
How to Stop Collecting Them
Most Mawaqif fines come down to parking in a bay you did not realise was restricted. Our Abu Dhabi parking guide decodes every curb colour and all six bay types, which is the single best way to stop generating them in the first place.
If you drive onto the island regularly, the Darb toll guide covers the other charge that catches residents out, and Free Flow parking explains the ticketless system now rolling out at multi-storey car parks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Through the Darb app or by logging in to TAMM with UAE Pass. Both show parking violations recorded against your number plate, free and instantly.
Yes. Pay within 60 days of the issue date and 25 per cent is deducted. The window runs from when the fine was issued, not when you found out about it. Some older guides say 30 days, which is out of date.
File a grievance through TAMM or the Darb app within 60 days of the issue date. Select the fine, explain why it should not stand, attach evidence such as timestamped photos or payment confirmations, and keep the reference number. A decision usually takes about seven business days.
Between AED 100 and AED 1,000 depending on the violation. Using the wrong zone ticket is AED 100, prohibited parking or taking two bays is AED 200, pavement parking is AED 400, a taxi or bus space is AED 500, and a People of Determination bay or fire lane is AED 1,000. Check the exact amount against your own fine in the Darb app or on TAMM.
You lose the 25 per cent discount after 60 days, the fine accrues additional penalties against your traffic file, and unpaid parking fines will block your vehicle registration renewal.
You still need to pay within the original 60-day window to keep the 25 per cent discount. This is the reason to file early rather than close to the deadline, so there is still time to pay at a discount if the decision goes against you.
Fine checking, payment, discount and grievance procedures verified against the official Q Mobility Mawaqif FAQ. Last checked 13 September 2026. We update this page whenever the process or penalty schedule changes.
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