Vehicle POA or RTA POA - which one do you need?
If your transaction is a vehicle ownership change at RTA in Dubai, read the RTA page: RTA publishes the scope your representative’s power of attorney must contain, and that is a fact worth having before anything is drafted. Vehicle POA is the broader category for vehicle authority generally, including transactions outside Dubai where the authority is not RTA and publishes its own requirements.
Talk to a person. Message us on WhatsApp
The sentence that separates them
For a vehicle ownership change, RTA states that the legal representative "must have a power of attorney stipulating the ‘sale and disposal of vehicles’", and that the representative must attend in person.
That is unusually specific, and it is the whole reason the RTA page exists separately. A perfectly valid vehicle authority that never contains that scope can be refused at the counter — not because anything is wrong with the document, but because the counter is doing exactly what its own published rules say.
What else RTA asks for on ownership change
The published list for an ownership change goes well beyond the power of attorney, and most of it is the customer’s to arrange:
- A valid Emirates ID for buyer and seller.
- Electronic insurance and an electronic technical inspection.
- An electronic mortgage release, if the vehicle is mortgaged.
- A Gulf Specifications compliance document where applicable.
- A MOFA no-objection certificate for consulate plates.
- RTA’s own fees — AED 350 for a light vehicle, AED 200 for a motorcycle, AED 800 to AED 1,000 for a heavy vehicle over 12 tonnes, plus AED 35 to AED 50 for plates, AED 50 for the sale and purchase agreement and AED 20 knowledge and innovation. Those are paid to RTA and are separate from our professional fee.
Export is a different RTA service
RTA’s Export Certificate service (cancelling a Dubai vehicle registration for export) states that you or your legal representative must be present in person when applying at Customer Happiness or Inspection Centres. For a corporate applicant it also lists trade licence, company letter, sale and purchase agreement, and a "Memorandum of Association translated into Arabic (legalised translation)" among the documents.
Two limits matter. First, the in-person rule is not unique to ownership change — RTA repeats it for export, so “my representative can do it online” is wrong for both. Second, the export page does not state the scope a representative’s power of attorney must contain. The “sale and disposal of vehicles” wording is published on the ownership-transfer service, not on export, so we do not assert that the same wording is required for export.
| Line | Published amount |
|---|---|
| Certificate | AED 50 |
| Export plates | AED 70 |
| Change of Ownership | AED 350 |
| Clearing fees | AED 50 |
| Knowledge and Innovation | AED 20 |
| Total (as published) | AED 540 |
Source: RTA, Export Certificate (S-15)
Fee hygiene: RTA’s numbers are not our fee
Ownership-change fees, export fee build-ups and The Deedbox professional fee are three different numbers. RTA publishes the first two; we publish the third on the Vehicle / RTA service pages. Nothing on this page adds them into one “vehicle POA price”.
| What | Published amount | What it is (not) |
|---|---|---|
| RTA ownership change — light vehicle | AED 350 (+ plates, agreement, knowledge/innovation as published) | An RTA transaction fee — not a POA drafting fee |
| RTA light-vehicle export (published total) | AED 540 | Export certificate package — includes an ownership-change line, not a document fee |
| The Deedbox professional fee (Vehicle / RTA POA) | AED 790 | Document preparation and case coordination — not an RTA fee |
Why the broader page still exists
RTA is Dubai. Vehicle transactions elsewhere in the UAE go through other authorities, and we have not read published wording requirements from them — so we do not claim RTA’s sentence applies to them. Extending one authority’s published requirement across a country is exactly the kind of confident generalisation that makes a page feel authoritative and be wrong.
The Vehicle POA page is therefore the right starting point when the transaction is not an RTA one, or when the question is still what authority to grant rather than where to take it. Abu Dhabi’s notarisation manual separately names a Vehicles POA product; that is an ADJD catalogue fact, not an RTA wording rule, and it is covered on the general versus special guide.
Which page is yours
Decide from the counter, not from the product name.
| Transaction | Which page |
|---|---|
| Vehicle ownership change at RTA in Dubai, with a representative | RTA page — RTA publishes the scope wording and attendance rule. |
| Export / cancel Dubai registration for export, with a representative | RTA page for attendance and documents; do not assume the ownership-change scope wording applies (RTA does not publish it on the export service). |
| Vehicle matter outside Dubai, or still deciding what the representative may do | Vehicle POA page (then general vs special if the question is broader than vehicles). |
| You only need published authority fee figures | UAE will and POA fees guide — RTA rows sit beside other authorities, never merged with our fee. |
What to read next
If the counter is RTA ownership change, go to the RTA Vehicle POA service page for preparation and our professional fee beside RTA’s published figures. If you still need the category view, use the Vehicle Power of Attorney service page.
For how RTA’s named scope sits against a broad document, read general versus special. For the documents list that compares DLD and RTA side by side, use POA documents required. For checking a finished UAE POA, use Verify a UAE power of attorney.
Two worked examples sit on the journal: a limited power of attorney for motor-vehicle transactions, and, where the car is financed, a special power of attorney for a car loan.
Questions
What exactly does RTA require the document to say?
For ownership change, RTA states the legal representative "must have a power of attorney stipulating the ‘sale and disposal of vehicles’". It also states the representative must be present in person.
Does that wording apply outside Dubai?
We have not read a published requirement from another emirate’s transport authority, so we do not say that it does. Check the authority that will receive your document.
Can a general power of attorney be used at RTA instead?
RTA names the scope it expects for ownership change. A broad document that does not contain it may not be enough — which is the point made at more length in our general versus special guide.
Does export need the same “sale and disposal of vehicles” wording?
RTA’s export service page requires the representative in person and lists documents for corporate applicants, but it does not state the scope wording. We do not copy the ownership-change sentence onto export.
Are RTA’s AED 350 / AED 540 figures the cost of the POA?
No. Those are RTA transaction fees (ownership change; light-vehicle export total as published). The Deedbox professional fee for preparing a vehicle POA is separate and is published on the Vehicle / RTA service pages.
Can my representative complete an RTA ownership change online?
RTA states the legal representative must be present in person for ownership change, and repeats an in-person rule for export at Customer Happiness or Inspection Centres. We do not describe either as a fully online representative route.
What this page does not do
- This page quotes RTA for Dubai vehicle services. It is not a statement of what other UAE transport authorities require.
- The “sale and disposal of vehicles” wording is sourced from RTA’s ownership-change service. We do not assert it for export.
- Authority requirements and fees change. The figures here are dated in our source registry, and RTA’s own page is the version that counts.
- The Deedbox is not a law firm and not a notary.