Vehicle Advertising Permit in Dubai: A Fleet Artwork Brief That Passes

Most fleet artwork that gets sent back in Dubai is not rejected because it looks bad. It is rejected, or fined later, because it was designed as a marketing piece and only then checked against the rules: the Arabic is too small or on the wrong side, a photo of the founder sits on the rear door, the trade name in Arabic does not match the licence, or the colour coverage crosses the threshold that brings in another authority. Each means redrawing four sides of every vehicle type, sometimes after the film has been produced.

This guide turns Dubai’s vehicle advertising rules into a design brief for whoever draws the artwork: which rules apply, what they mean for the layout, what to prepare and where official and reported requirements disagree. For livery design, readability at speed and film choice, see our separate guide to fleet branding design for transport companies.

Two pieces of legislation, two different fines

Decree No. 6 of 2020 Regulating Advertisements in the Emirate of Dubai applies to everyone. Its definition of an advertising medium expressly includes vehicles and stickers, and Article 4 says no person may display an advertisement without first obtaining a permit. Article 5 makes the RTA the competent entity for advertisements “on any Vehicle”. We found no exemption in the decree for a company’s own logo or trade name on its own vehicles. Fines run from AED 1,000 to AED 15,000, doubled for a repeat in the same advertising space within a year, up to AED 30,000 (Dubai Legislation Portal).

Executive Council Resolution No. 47 of 2017 regulates businesses licensed for transport by, and rental of, vehicles, including those in free zones. Article 5(4) says such an establishment must not stick or hang advertising material on a vehicle body without the approval of the RTA’s licensing agency, and Schedule 3 sets the fine at AED 5,000. Repeats within a year double, up to AED 20,000, and the RTA can also suspend the activity or revoke the permit (Dubai Legislation Portal).

The same resolution has a requirement that designers often miss: the establishment’s name and the vehicle’s kerb and gross weight must be written on the vehicle body, with a separate AED 500 fine if they are not. That is a marking, not an advertisement, but it needs a fixed place in the layout that the graphics never cover.

The English text does not say whether a company carrying only its own goods counts as a licensed transport establishment, and the Arabic text prevails. Ask the RTA which regime applies to you; the decree’s permit requirement applies either way.

Who you apply to now

The RTA remains the competent entity under the decree, but the application route has moved. On 24 April 2025 the Dubai Media Office announced that Mada Media, a company set up in 2024 that works under a concession agreement with the RTA and Dubai Municipality, had launched a single platform at madamedia.com for outdoor advertising permits. Commercial vehicles are one of the listed categories, alongside private land, buildings, the right of way and the public transport network. Gulf News reported the same launch the same day.

Older guides still describe applying through the RTA, and the OneClickDrive guide updated in August 2026 names Mada Media as the issuer while still pointing applicants to an RTA portal. Treat the Mada Media platform as the starting point and confirm the route for your vehicle category there. Other emirates run their own procedures (Ras Al Khaimah Municipality, for example, has its own vehicle advertisement permit), so a fleet registered or mostly operating elsewhere needs that emirate’s rules checked separately.

Arabic first: what the language rule means for your layout

This is the rule that sends most artwork back. Article 11(7) of the decree requires the advertisement to be in Arabic, allows other languages only if Arabic stays the main language, and sets three conditions:

• the Arabic text occupies at least 50% of the size of the advertising medium;
• it sits in the upper section or on the right-hand side;
• it is free of grammatical and spelling mistakes.

An RTA application form for vehicle advertising permits (RTA Form 5000, undated) states the split as “Arabic Language 50%, English language 50%”. Secondary guides say at least 50% Arabic and that only Arabic and English may be used. The decree’s wording is the legal baseline; the form suggests the RTA has, at least in the past, expected an even split. Our guide to bilingual Arabic-English logo identity covers how to balance the two scripts. Design to the stricter reading: Arabic no smaller than English, and no third language.

What this means in practice:

• Start the layout from the Arabic. If the English logo and slogan are placed first and the Arabic is fitted into what is left, it will almost always be smaller or lower. Draw the Arabic lock-up to the full size first, then match the English to it.
• Decide what “right-hand side” means on each face. On the left and right sides of a vehicle, the direction of travel changes which end is “front”. Agree with your designer how the Arabic is placed on each of the four faces, and show it the same way in every drawing.
• Use the Arabic trade name exactly as licensed. Secondary sources say the Arabic trade name must match the trade licence word for word. A shortened brand name in Arabic is a common reason for a mismatch (our guide to trade name rules in Dubai explains how the licensed name is set); keep the full licensed name somewhere on the vehicle even if the brand name is used larger.
• Have the Arabic proofread by someone other than the designer. The decree makes spelling and grammar a condition, and broken letter joins are easy to miss until the text is enlarged on a vehicle.

The decree also requires the permit holder to show the permit number and the name of the competent entity on the advertisement, as the advertising manual prescribes. Reserve a small, consistent position for it on every vehicle type now, so the permit sticker does not end up over a phone number or a logo.

Content limits, and where each one comes from

Beyond language, guides describe a list of content restrictions. We could not open Mada Media’s own vehicle permit page or a current RTA service page that lists them, so the table separates what we verified from what is reported. The reported rules come mainly from a dubizzle guide (published June 2022, updated March 2023) and a OneClickDrive guide (updated August 2026).

The OneClickDrive guide also says branding must not cover more than 50% of the vehicle surface. That sits awkwardly with the full-wrap categories both guides list in their fee tables, and the decree’s 50% figure refers to the Arabic text, not to coverage. If you plan a full wrap, ask the platform directly rather than relying on either reading.

Third-party approvals that hold up the file

Some vehicles need another party’s consent before the advertising permit can be issued. The RTA form and the secondary guides agree on these:

• Leased or rented vehicles: the rental contract, and according to dubizzle a no-objection certificate from the leasing company. Many fleets are leased; collect these before the artwork is final, not after.
• Another company’s brand or product on the vehicle: a contract with the brand owner or a registered trademark (the form refers to the Ministry of Economy, now the Ministry of Economy and Tourism). This matters for distributors and agents who want a principal’s product or logo on their vans.
• Real estate advertising: approval from the Dubai Land Department.
• Colour above 30%: the RTA form transfers applications where the colour percentage exceeds 30% to Dubai Police, without defining how it is measured.

Sources also disagree on who may apply. Dubizzle describes applications by advertising agencies, with extra steps for agencies based outside Dubai; the RTA form lists the company’s own trade licence for commercial vehicles, with advertising-company details as a separate field. Confirm on the platform whether your company applies directly or through a licensed advertising company, because it changes who holds the permit and who receives renewal notices.

The approval pack, and what to do about fees

For commercial vehicles, the RTA form asks for the advertising design, a copy of the company trade licence and a copy of the vehicle ownership. Dubizzle adds that the design should show all four sides with a mock-up. A complete pack has:

1. Scaled drawings of all four faces for each vehicle type and model, on the manufacturer’s outline, with doors, handles, windows and fuel caps marked.
2. A photo mock-up of each vehicle type with the graphics applied.
3. A coverage note: partial or full, and the share of the vehicle in a new colour.
4. The Arabic text as typed text, not only as artwork, so it can be checked against the licence.
5. The trade licence and vehicle ownership copies, plus leasing contracts or NOCs where needed.
6. Brand-owner or trademark evidence for any third-party logo or product.

On fees, do not plan on any single figure you read online. Secondary guides agree that fees are annual for commercial vehicles and vary by vehicle type and by partial or full coverage, but they disagree on the numbers: the 2022/2023 dubizzle table lists AED 2,500 for a logo and trade name on the front doors, while the 2026 OneClickDrive guide gives AED 250 a year for the same category. Get the current fee for each vehicle type from the platform before you set a budget, and diarise the renewal date for every vehicle.

For a mixed fleet, keep the Arabic block, mandatory markings and permit space in the same relative position on every vehicle type, so later additions are quicker to approve. This is the kind of work our brand applications and fleet branding team prepares: production-ready files for each vehicle, with the client or its appointed advertising company submitting the permit. For a Dubai example of one identity carried from business cards to trucks, see our work for Falcon Fire.

Checklist before you send artwork for approval

• Do we know which regime applies to us: the advertising decree only, or also Resolution 47/2017 as a transport or rental business?
• Is the Arabic at least as large as the English, in the upper or right-hand area, on every face?
• Does the Arabic trade name match the licence exactly, and has a second person proofread it?
• Is there a fixed space for the permit number and authority name, and a clear zone for the establishment name and weights?
• Have we removed photos of real people, counted images per side and kept the windscreen clear?
• Does every service listed on the vehicle appear on the trade licence?
• If the colour share could pass the form’s 30% threshold, have we asked whether Dubai Police approval is needed?
• Do we have leasing NOCs and brand-owner or trademark evidence where needed?
• Is production held until the permit is issued?

Run the checklist on one vehicle type first, ideally the one you have most of, and submit that file alone. The comments that come back show what to correct on every other type before the rest of the fleet is drawn. If the same brand also needs a shopfront sign, our Dubai shopfront permit guide covers that route.