Dubai court obligates man to pay Dhs7,500 to vehicle owner

Dubai Civil Court ordered an Asian to pay Dhs7,500 to the owner of a vehicle after he was found to have committed traffic violations and Salik tolls while in possession of the vehicle under a verbal agreement to purchase it.

The court rejected other claims including compensation for material harms and transfer of black points and traffic violations to his traffic file.

Earlier, the owner of the vehicle filed a civil lawsuit in which he stated that in November last year, he entered into a verbal agreement with the defendant to sell the vehicle to him in exchange for the latter’s commitment to pay the outstanding fines on the car before the delivery date

The plaintiff explained that, due to the friendly relationship between the two parties, he actually handed over the vehicle to the defendant, who took possession of it and used it.

The defendant, however, breached the agreement by failing to pay the outstanding fines and refusing to complete the procedures for transferring ownership although he repeatedly contacted him to do so, he added.

The defendant committed new traffic violations amounting to Dhs16,000 and was handed 35 black points during the period he owned the vehicle, the plaintiff said.

He also caused traffic accidents that affected the market value of the vehicle, which forced him to retrieve the car and file the lawsuit in which he requested the court to obligate him to pay the fines and compensation for the incurred harms, he added.

The plaintiff submitted documents to the court that included a copy of the vehicle licence, a list of the violations committed and WhatsApp conversations between the two parties.

During the proceedings, the defendant failed to attend the sessions though he was legally notified.

The court stated that it was established from the documents and exchanged conversations that the defendant actually possessed the vehicle and acknowledged in WhatsApp messages his commitment to paying the fines, which constituted evidence of his responsibility for the fines and Salik fees resulting from his use of the vehicle.

The elements of civil liability; namely fault, harm and causation existed, the court added, considering that the defendant caused direct harm to the registered owner of the vehicle as a result of the violations he committed while he was in possession of the vehicle. Accordingly, the court ruled that the defendant must pay Dhs7,500 to the plaintiff.

Meanwhile, the court rejected the claim for compensation for material harms amounting to Dhs15,000 because the plaintiff failed to provide evidence of the occurrence of traffic accidents or the harms that reportedly affected the market value of the vehicle.

The court also rejected the request to transfer the violations and black points to the defendant's traffic file, noting that administrative responsibility for recording violations lay with the registered owner of the vehicle at the time of the violation and these records could not be amended retroactively.

The court ordered the defendant to pay the incurred fees and expenses and rejected all other claims.