Parking at Dubai Mall will soon become a paid service, using a barrier-free system implemented by toll gate operator Salik.

Salik announced cooperation with Emaar Malls on Friday “to deliver a seamless and efficient parking management system at the world-famous Dubai Mall. Under the terms of the agreement, Salik's technology will be deployed to enable a smooth, barrier-free parking experience for mall customers”.

The system is expected to be operational by third quarter of 2024. Salik said charges will be “determined after Emaar Malls finalises the business rules for this project.”

Salik said it will be responsible for designing, financing, developing, installing and managing the parking management system, while Dubai Mall will provide the required local infrastructure, office space and car park maintenance. The mall has more than 13,000 parking spaces.

This will be the first time Salik will diversify its revenue outside of toll gates. The automatic fee collection for ticketless parking will be charged using vehicle plate recognition.

The barrier-free parking system will use the same automatic number plate recognition and radio frequency identification technology used for tracking tags by Salik. A camera will capture the plate number as it enters the parking floor and will record the entry time. At the exit, the camera will again scan the plate number and the system will calculate the parking time. Charges are yet to be defined by Emaar Malls but fees will be deducted from the Salik user account.