A man who allegedly incurred over $1000 in traffic violations in Dubai has finally had his passport returned to him from a car hire company.

A court has ruled in favour of businessman deeming the passport as personal property and a necessary means of identification.

The 45-year-old Ibrahim Ahmed claimed the car hire company would not give back his passport after he allegedly accumulated over $1000 in fines while renting a car in Dubai from June 2008 until May this year.

Ahmed refused to pay the fees for the rental car but did not pay the fines that he incurred on the vehicle, as he did not believe he committed any traffic offences whilst driving the vehicle.  This led to the rental car company withholding the passport.

Car rental companies commonly keep customer’s passports as a bond, as it is believed that a credit card number could be easily cancelled.

Two court hearings followed, which both ruled in favour of Mr Ahmed, with Muraqqabat police ordered to obtain the passport from the car hire company and return it to the man.

Quotes from khaleejtimes.com.  For more information visit their website.