By Mohammed Rashad Hussain, Managing PartnerPublished 4 min read
What decides the monthly price of a driver?
There is no standard monthly rate in Dubai. Five things set it, and two quotes only compare when they match on all five.
- Driver only or driver and car. The biggest swing in the figure.
- Hours and days. A 9-hour day over 6 days is a different job from an 8 am to 8 pm day, 7 days a week.
- Vehicle class. A Lexus ES 300h, a GMC Yukon and a Mercedes V-Class are priced differently. Partner-network cars are available through our partner network, subject to availability.
- Running costs. Fuel, Salik, parking and servicing.
- Overtime and cover. What happens past the agreed hours and on the driver’s days off.
For the general logic behind hourly and day pricing, see what sets a chauffeur price in Dubai. Our monthly private driver service page sets out how Assure arranges a plan. We do not publish monthly prices there or here.
Driver only or driver and car: how does the quote change?
With a company-supplied car, the monthly figure carries the vehicle, its insurance, servicing and a replacement when it is in the workshop. You pay one invoice and do not own the car’s problems.
With a driver only, you use your own car. That is cheaper on paper, but you pay for fuel, servicing, insurance and parking yourself, and a breakdown stops the school run. Ask any company offering driver-only hire to confirm the arrangement in writing. Whether Assure offers it is for the team to confirm on WhatsApp.
A family choosing between the two should read how to hire a personal driver in Dubai. A business weighing a leased car against a driver can use the company car versus chauffeur cost comparison.
Hours, days and overtime: how do you read the contract?
Write the schedule into the quote as numbers: start time, end time, days a week, and the area the driver covers. Then ask three questions.
- How many hours make a standard day, and does a lunch break count?
- What is the overtime rate after those hours, and who approves it?
- Which days are rest days, and who drives on them?
An early school run plus a 7 pm dinner is a split day, and it should be priced as one. Say so at the start.
Fuel, Salik, parking and maintenance: who pays?
Each of these should appear as its own line. Salik is the one people forget, because it adds up at fixed times.
Salik charges AED 6 per pass from 6 am to 10 am and 4 pm to 8 pm, Monday to Saturday, and AED 4 at other hours, plus 5% VAT. It is free from 1 am to 6 am. See our guide to Salik tolls for gate locations.
As a worked example, a car that passes 2 gates each way at peak makes 4 passes a day. That is AED 24 a day before VAT, which is about AED 624 over 26 working days. It is your cost if the quote says “Salik extra”.
Sponsoring your own driver: which costs are easy to miss?
Hiring a driver directly is another route, and its costs sit outside the car. The UAE government portal lists “personal/family driver” among 19 domestic worker occupations. As the employer you:
- sign the ministry’s approved contract template and give the worker a copy;
- provide medical care or health insurance;
- allow at least 30 days of paid annual leave and one paid rest day a week;
- cover the days of leave and sickness with another driver, because the school run does not stop.
Then add the car’s own costs. A company contract bundles the cover. Agency and Tadbeer centre fees are charged separately, so ask the centre for its current schedule.
Cancellation, notice and replacement drivers
Ask for these in the contract, not by message:
- the minimum term and the notice each side gives;
- any charge for ending early;
- how fast a replacement driver and car are arranged;
- whether a replacement is of the same class.
RTA’s March 2025 Takamul news says a customer may hire a luxury car with a chauffeur for up to one month. If a company offers a rolling contract beyond that, ask which licence and agreement it operates under.
What to ask for in a written monthly quote
- Car model or class, and what happens if it is replaced.
- Hours per day, days per week and the covered area.
- Overtime rate and who authorises it.
- Fuel, Salik, parking and VAT: included or extra, one line each.
- Replacement driver and replacement car terms.
- Notice period and early-end charges.
- Driver’s name, and who to call out of hours.
Corporate buyers can ask for the same on one invoice through our corporate chauffeur accounts. For a plan around your own routine, see the private driver service or car with driver by the hour, and read the school run checklist if children are part of the schedule. For the wider picture, start at hiring a chauffeur in Dubai.
Photos in this guide
A grey Lexus ES 300h hybrid sedan parked at a kerbDinkun Chen / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
A Salik toll gate gantry with its cameras over the approach to Al Garhoud Bridge in DubaiAppusviews at Malayalam Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
A dark grey Mercedes-Benz V-Class van parked at the kerbAlexander-93 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, below signs for the 100 and 60 km/h speed limitsFabio Achilli / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
