SecurePath vs Asateel vs the federal ICP system: which UAE GPS mandates apply to your fleet?

SecurePath and Asateel are separate mandates from separate regulators: SecurePath is Dubai’s SIRA-operated tracking programme for 18 regulated categories, Asateel is Abu Dhabi’s commercial-transport mandate under Resolution 74/2021, and a third, federal layer, the ICP National System for Tracking Trucks and Shipments, sits above both. Many construction fleets are inside two of the three; some are inside all three. This article separates them with the official documents on the table.

Key takeaways

• Three systems, three regulators: SecurePath under SIRA in Dubai, Asateel under the Integrated Transport Centre (Abu Dhabi Mobility), and the federal National System for Tracking Trucks and Shipments under the ICP, enforced since 31 October 2023 (Gulf News, 2023).
• Costs are published on one of them: SIRA lists SecurePath at AED 240 (Basic) or AED 290 (Premium) per licence per year plus an AED 120 device approval certificate (sira.gov.ae, checked August 2026). Asateel pricing is quotation-only across 29 approved suppliers.
• Fines are published on two: AED 4,000 for GPS off or not installed under Asateel (Resolution 74/2021), and a federal ladder from AED 1,000 to AED 10,000 (Gulf News, June 2023).
• “Cabinet Decision 96/2021”, widely cited by vendors as SecurePath’s legal basis, is unverified on uaelegislation.gov.ae; the citations look like a conflation with the federal ICP system, untangled below.
• Underneath all three sits TDRA type approval: an unapproved tracker cannot legally be imported, sold or activated in the UAE at all.

What is SecurePath?

SecurePath is Dubai’s regulated-vehicle tracking programme, described on SIRA’s own service page as “a real-time, web-based GPS tracking and fleet management solution” and operated by the Security Industry Regulatory Agency (SIRA). The page lists 18 eligible vehicle and cargo categories, including rental cars, cash-in-transit, chemical materials, hazardous cargo and environmental waste (sira.gov.ae, checked August 2026).

SIRA is unusual among GCC regulators in publishing its prices. From the official SecurePath service page: Basic costs AED 240 per licence per year including SIM and data, with a minimum of 50 licences (AED 12,000); Premium costs AED 290 per licence per year with a minimum of 25 licences (AED 7,250); a device approval certificate costs AED 120. The operational portal is securepath.ae.

Which tier applies to which fleet is vendor-reported rather than regulator-published: providers describe Basic as the rent-a-car tier, needed for registration and Mulkiya renewal, and Premium as the tier for goods, cargo and hazardous or high-value transport (permits.ae, checked August 2026). One gap worth knowing: we found no public approved-vendor list for SecurePath after SIRA’s restructure; the working routes are the securepath.ae portal and care@securepath.ae. Dubai-side registration detail lives in our RTA and SIRA compliance guide.

What is Asateel?

Asateel is Abu Dhabi’s commercial-transport tracking mandate, administered by the Integrated Transport Centre (Abu Dhabi Mobility) and grounded in a published legal instrument: Resolution No. (74) of 2021 of the Chairman of the Department of Municipalities and Transport, dated 20 April 2021. Article 4(5) requires operators to “link transport vehicles with the electronic tracking or monitoring system that is decided by the Centre”, and Article 5(3) makes approved tracking a condition of the activity permit itself.

The scope is defined by weight and activity, not by cargo sensitivity: goods-transport vehicles in the emirate, with heavy meaning unloaded weight over 2.5 tonnes including trailers and light meaning 2.5 tonnes or less including motorcycles (Resolution 74/2021). Permit lines cover freight transport, passenger buses, school buses, delivery motorbikes and e-device transport (Abu Dhabi Mobility, checked August 2026). Hardware must come from the official approved-supplier list, which carried 29 suppliers at its 21 April 2026 status date; the procurement mechanics are in our Asateel-approved GPS supplier guide.

Enforcement is specific and published. The Schedule of Violations appended to Resolution 74/2021 sets AED 4,000 for operating without GPS installed, with GPS off or deactivated, or not linked to the Centre’s system; AED 10,000 for operating without a permit; and AED 1,000 per month of delay for operating under an expired permit. Conciliation under Article 14 settles a violation at 75% of the penalty if paid within one month. The full 17-line fine table, with exemptions, is in Asateel fines and exemptions, and the registration walkthrough is in the Asateel compliance guide.

What is the federal ICP truck-tracking system, and is it “Cabinet Decision 96/2021”?

The third layer is federal: the National System for Tracking Trucks and Shipments, run by the National Centre under the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP), with enforcement from 31 October 2023 (Gulf News, June 2023). It is not SecurePath and it is not Asateel; it is a nationwide system with its own registration and its own fine ladder.

That ladder, as reported by Gulf News from the federal announcement: AED 1,000 for failing to register in the first month, rising AED 100 per month to a cap of AED 5,000; AED 500 per month (capped at AED 2,500) for renewal more than 60 days late, and the same for data updates more than 30 days late; AED 5,000 to 10,000 for false registration data; AED 1,000 to 5,000 for device tampering; AED 500 to 2,000 for unauthorized route or driver changes; and AED 5,000 to 10,000 for unauthorized loading or unloading (Gulf News, 2023).

Now the untangling this market needs. Vendor blogs routinely cite “Cabinet Decision No. 96 of 2021” as the legal basis for SecurePath. We went looking and could not verify it: the decision does not appear on uaelegislation.gov.ae in our checks (August 2026), and SIRA’s own SecurePath page cites no such instrument. A federal cabinet decision would, on its face, attach to a federal system, and the UAE has exactly one federal truck-tracking system, the ICP’s; the likeliest explanation is that vendors are conflating the federal mandate’s legal basis with Dubai’s emirate-level programme. Until a regulator publishes otherwise, the safe description is the one each regulator uses about itself: SecurePath is a SIRA programme, Asateel rests on Resolution 74/2021, and the federal system is the ICP’s. Marketing information, not legal advice; verify legal bases with the regulators.

How do SecurePath, Asateel and the federal system compare?

One matrix, official sources throughout: to our knowledge the only place the three UAE tracking regimes sit side by side with the published numbers.

	Asateel (Abu Dhabi)	SecurePath (Dubai)	Federal ICP system
Who runs it	Integrated Transport Centre (Abu Dhabi Mobility)	SIRA (Security Industry Regulatory Agency)	National Centre under the ICP (federal)
Legal basis	Resolution 74/2021, Arts. 4(5), 5(3)	SIRA programme, per SIRA’s service page; the vendor-cited “Cabinet Decision 96/2021” is unverified	National System for Tracking Trucks and Shipments; enforced 31 Oct 2023 (Gulf News, 2023)
Mandated categories	Goods transport (heavy over 2.5 t unloaded incl. trailers; light 2.5 t or less), buses, school buses, delivery motorbikes, e-device transport	18 eligible categories incl. rental cars, cash-in-transit, chemical materials, hazardous cargo, environmental waste	Trucks and shipments registered on the national system; confirm scope with the ICP
Hardware requirement	OBU from the official approved-supplier list (29 suppliers, 21 April 2026); permit conditional on a functioning device	SIRA-approved device with an AED 120 device approval certificate, via the securepath.ae portal	Registered tracking device; tampering fined AED 1,000-5,000
Published costs	None published; the ITC advises collecting several quotations	AED 240/licence/yr Basic (min 50 = AED 12,000); AED 290/licence/yr Premium (min 25 = AED 7,250); AED 120 device approval (sira.gov.ae, Aug 2026)	None published in our checks
Fines	AED 4,000 GPS off/not installed/not linked; AED 10,000 no permit; AED 1,000/month expired permit; conciliation at 75% (Res. 74/2021 schedule)	Not published on the SIRA service page; SIRA decides	AED 1,000 non-registration rising to 5,000 cap; AED 500/month late renewal or data update (capped 2,500); AED 5,000-10,000 false data or unauthorized loading (Gulf News, 2023)
Renewal	Activity permit valid 1 year; vocational driver permit 2 years (Res. 74/2021)	Licences priced per year; renewal via the SecurePath portal	Renewal required; more than 60 days late draws AED 500/month up to AED 2,500

Every regulatory row above carries its source and a 21 August 2026 review date; amounts and categories change, so treat this as marketing information, not legal advice, and verify with the regulator before acting.

What happens when one truck works a Dubai site and an Abu Dhabi quarry?

It answers to more than one regulator, because the mandates stack rather than merge. Take the ordinary construction case: a tipper or mixer loading at an Abu Dhabi quarry and discharging at a Dubai project site, day in, day out.

• Asateel applies to the Abu Dhabi side of its life: it is a goods-transport vehicle operating in that emirate, so it needs an approved OBU, a Certificate of Installation and an activity permit, and it eats the AED 4,000 fine if the GPS is off (Resolution 74/2021).
• SecurePath applies only if the Dubai leg puts the cargo in one of SIRA’s 18 categories; chemical materials, hazardous cargo and environmental waste are on that list, general aggregate is not named. Check your actual cargo types against the SIRA page rather than assuming either way.
• The federal ICP system applies on its own nationwide terms, indifferent to which emirate the truck is standing in.

The practical consequences: budget compliance per regime, not per truck, because a licence in one system buys nothing in the others; ask every hardware supplier which approvals it holds, by legal entity and device model; and keep the renewal calendars separate, because an Asateel activity permit, a SecurePath licence and a federal registration renew on their own clocks. For ready-mix operators, where the same mixer can cross this border twice a day, we keep a dedicated page: ready-mix concrete fleet software.

Which certificates does your fleet actually need?

Three different pieces of paper get called “the tracking certificate” in this market, and they are not interchangeable.

1. Certificate of Installation (Asateel). Issued after an approved supplier installs the OBU, and listed by Abu Dhabi Mobility among the vehicle permit/NOC documents, alongside the trade licence, registration card, four-side vehicle photo and odometer photo (checked August 2026). No certificate, no permit.
2. Certificate of installation (SecurePath). Issued after an approved-provider install on the Dubai side, used in RTA registration and renewal (vendor-reported, permits.ae, checked August 2026). Same name, different regulator, different system.
3. Device approval certificate (SIRA). The AED 120 item on SIRA’s price list: approval of the device itself for the SecurePath programme, separate from any per-vehicle installation paper (sira.gov.ae, checked August 2026).

When a supplier says “we provide the certificate”, the only useful follow-up is: which one, issued under which regulator, and does it name this vehicle or this device model?

What is TDRA type approval, and why does it sit under all three?

Underneath every mandate in this article is a federal telecom layer that most compliance guides skip. TDRA type approval is the registration the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority requires before any telecom equipment can be used, sold or distributed in the UAE, governed by its Telecommunications Equipment Type Approval Regime, Version 3.0 (TDRA, checked August 2026).

GPS trackers are radio-frequency devices, treated by compliance houses as medium-risk Scheme 2 equipment that may require technical testing, with approval valid for 3 years (compliance-house-reported, checked August 2026). The fleet-level consequence is blunt: an OBU without TDRA type approval cannot legally be imported, sold or activated in the UAE, so it can never become SecurePath-approved or Asateel-listed hardware. The stack, bottom to top: TDRA approval, then programme approval (Asateel list or SIRA device approval), then the per-vehicle permit or licence.

Can one software layer read both regimes’ feeds?

No software substitutes for any of the three mandates; each is satisfied by approved hardware reporting to the regulator’s platform. What software can do is make the feeds you already pay for answer the question no regulator asks: is this truck making money?

Fleetric is a fleet profit intelligence platform for GCC fleets, in daily production with a construction fleet in Abu Dhabi, that reads mandated tracking feeds and computes per-vehicle profit. For a cross-emirate fleet the point is the join: it reads both regimes’ feeds, the Asateel OBU’s and the SecurePath device’s, so a mixer answering to two regulators still shows up as one profit line per truck, customer, project and site. Permit and document expiry tracking sits alongside, so two renewal calendars stop living in two spreadsheets. It is early stage, in daily production with one Abu Dhabi construction fleet, with published pricing at AED 120 (Starter) and AED 95 (Pro) per truck per month. If compliance is handled and the profit question is not, book a 20-minute demo and bring one month of your feed.

Regulatory information in this article was last reviewed on 21 August 2026. It is marketing information, not legal advice; fine amounts, categories and procedures change, so verify current requirements with the ITC, SIRA, the ICP and the TDRA directly.

FAQ

What is the difference between SecurePath and Asateel?

They are separate mandates run by separate regulators. SecurePath is Dubai’s tracking programme operated by SIRA for 18 regulated vehicle and cargo categories such as rental cars, cash-in-transit and hazardous cargo. Asateel is Abu Dhabi’s commercial-transport tracking mandate under Resolution 74/2021, administered by the Integrated Transport Centre. Approval, pricing and enforcement are independent; neither replaces the other.

Can I use the same GPS device for SecurePath and Asateel?

There is no combined approval. Asateel approval is per supplier and per device model on the ITC’s list (29 suppliers at its 21 April 2026 status date), while SecurePath uses SIRA’s own device approval with an AED 120 certificate. A single device model may hold both approvals, but nothing transfers automatically; check the Asateel list and confirm with SIRA before assuming one box covers both emirates.

Do Dubai construction trucks need SecurePath?

It depends on the cargo, not the truck. SIRA’s service page lists 18 eligible vehicle and cargo categories, including chemical materials, hazardous cargo and environmental waste; a construction vehicle falls in scope when what it carries does. Check your cargo types against SIRA’s published categories, and remember the federal ICP truck-tracking system and Abu Dhabi’s Asateel apply on their own terms regardless.

What is the UAE federal truck-tracking system?

The National System for Tracking Trucks and Shipments, run by the National Centre under the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP), enforced from 31 October 2023. It is a federal layer separate from SecurePath and Asateel, with its own fine ladder, from AED 1,000 for non-registration (rising monthly to a 5,000 cap) up to AED 10,000 for false registration data, per Gulf News (June 2023).

How much does SecurePath cost?

SIRA publishes the prices, which is rare in this market. Basic is AED 240 per licence per year including SIM and data, with a 50-licence minimum (AED 12,000). Premium is AED 290 per licence per year, with a 25-licence minimum (AED 7,250). A device approval certificate costs AED 120. Source is SIRA’s own SecurePath service page, checked August 2026.

What is the fine for driving with the GPS off under Asateel?

AED 4,000. The Schedule of Violations appended to Resolution 74/2021 sets one penalty of AED 4,000 for operating a vehicle without GPS installed, with GPS switched off or deactivated, or not linked to the Centre’s system. A violator who accepts conciliation pays 75% of the penalty within one month under Article 14. Marketing information, not legal advice; verify with the ITC.

What happens to compliance when I sell or transfer a tracked vehicle?

The public documents we checked (August 2026) do not publish a transfer procedure. Asateel permits are issued per vehicle against documents including the registration card and Certificate of Installation, and SecurePath Basic is tied to rental-car registration and Mulkiya renewal (vendor-reported), so a transfer touches both the permit and the subscription. The regulator decides the handling; ask the ITC via asateel.itc.gov.ae or SIRA via care@securepath.ae before the sale.

Can I switch GPS providers mid-year?

Neither regulator publishes a mid-year switching procedure in the documents we checked (August 2026). Under Asateel, approval is per supplier and per device model and permits require a functioning device, so a switch means a new approved device and a new Certificate of Installation. SecurePath is priced per licence per year with minimums. Confirm the process with the ITC or SIRA before decommissioning anything.

Is Cabinet Decision 96/2021 the legal basis for SecurePath?

We could not verify that. Several vendor blogs cite Cabinet Decision 96 of 2021 as SecurePath’s legal basis, but we did not find it on uaelegislation.gov.ae (checked August 2026), and SIRA’s own SecurePath page does not cite it. A federal cabinet decision would more plausibly attach to the federal ICP truck-tracking system than to a Dubai-emirate programme. Treat SecurePath as what SIRA publishes it as, a SIRA programme, and verify legal bases with the regulator.

Does TDRA type approval replace SecurePath or Asateel approval?

No, it sits underneath them. TDRA type approval is the federal telecom registration a GPS tracker needs before it can legally be imported, sold or distributed in the UAE at all; SecurePath and Asateel approvals are programme-level layers on top of it. A tracker therefore needs TDRA approval plus the approval of whichever mandate programme it reports to.