Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, ordered bonuses of more than Dh12.82 million ($3.49m) to be paid to 2,565 Emirati owners of taxi number plates used by the Dubai Taxi Corporation and taxi franchise companies.
The payment – which equates to roughly Dh5,000 each – will be distributed by the Roads and Transport Authority in addition to annual dues during Ramadan.
Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, director general of RTA, thanked Sheikh Mohammed for his generous gesture.
"This bonus is one of several of His Highness’s gestures during Ramadan to enhance the welfare of citizens," Mr Al Tayer said.
"The payments particularly reflect his keenness to support fixed income earners and disadvantaged families.
"Apart from enhancing their well-being and happiness, the initiative also contributes to boosting social solidarity."
Ramadan in the region - in pictures
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Omanis gather as goats are sold ahead of the Eid Al Fitr holiday, in the Surur area of Samail province, 80 kilometres south-west of the capital Muscat. AFP -
Iraqi Sunni Muslims gather for the Laylat Al Qadr – Night of Power – in the shrine of cleric Sheikh Abdel Kader Al Gilani, in central Baghdad. EPA -
Palestinians pray on Laylat Al Qadr beside the Dome of the Rock shrine, at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, in Jerusalem's Old City. Reuters -
A man stares at the dome of a mosque, in Syria's northern city of Raqa. AFP -
A volunteer from the charity Violet Org hands out food packages for the suhour meal eaten in Syria's rebel-held northwestern city of Idlib. AFP -
Residents of Ezbet Hamada gather to eat during iftar in Mataria, Cairo. Reuters -
Ramadan decorations at Global Village, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Syrians break their fast during a gathering organised by various groups in Tadef, near the city of Al Bab, in Aleppo province. AFP -
Street traders cut up dessert pastries for sale at a market in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi. AFP -
People breaking their fast at Quba Mosque, Madinah, Saudi Arabia. SPA -
Fasting Muslim worshippers queue to receive iftar meals, donated by a charity, in Mahboula, south of Kuwait City. AFP -
Yemenis read the Quran during Ramadan at a mosque in the old city of Sanaa, Yemen. EPA -
People queue outside Al Farooq Mosque in Dubai before sunset, waiting to break their fast. EPA -
Shoppers at a market after their iftar meal, in the New Aleppo district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. AFP -
An Egyptian dancer performs the traditional tanoura dance at a restaurant in the Omani capital Muscat. AFP -
A famous Ramadan lantern inscribed with holy month greetings at Al Hamidiya market in Syria's capital Damascus. AFP -
Volunteers stir a pot of rice for a charity iftar at the eighth century Umayyad Mosque in Syria's capital Damascus. AFP -
Omanis gather to break their fast on the beach in Muscat. AFP -
Cooks employed by the Islamic Charitable Society prepare iftar meals for Palestinian orphans and families in need, in the West Bank city of Hebron. AFP -
Iftar is served outside a mosque on the Jazeera State highway in the village of Al Nuba, about 50 kilometres south of Sudan's capital Khartoum. AFP -
A worshipper reads the Quran inside a mosque in Syria's northern city of Raqqa. AFP -
The first Friday prayers of Ramadan at the shrine of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al Kilani, the former Sunni Muslim preacher, in central Baghdad. AFP -
Worshippers attend the first Friday prayer of Ramadan at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters -
Palestinians cross the Qalandia checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on their way to the first Friday prayers of Ramadan at Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque. Reuters -
An Egyptian baker prepares kunafa, a Ramadan dessert favourite, at a market in Cairo. EPA -
Dawn awakeners known as musaharatis beat drums to wake Muslims for the suhour meal before the day's Ramadan fast in Damascus, Syria. AFP -
Moroccan King Mohammed VI, centre, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, second left, share an iftar meal in Sale, Morocco. AP -
Iranian women read the Quran at the shrine of Shah Abdol-Azim in Tehran. Reuters -
A Ramadan catch-up at a cafe in Mosul, Iraq. Reuters -
Prayer beads are in great demand during Ramadan in Sanaa, Yemen. EPA -
A musaharati drummer wakes people for suhour in Manama, Bahrain. Reuters -
The old city in Tripoli in Libya is decked with Ramadan decorations. Reuters -
Food packets arranged for distribution in Al Najieh, in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province. AFP -
Worshippers gather at Al Sahlah Mosque in Kufa, near the city of Najaf, Iraq. Reuters -
Iftar at the Prince Mansour Assaf Mosque in central Beirut, Lebanon. EPA -
An elderly Palestinian reads the Quran at his shop in the old city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. AFP -
Displaced Syrian children return to their camps with boxes of food on the outskirts of the rebel-held town of Dana, in Idlib province. AFP -
Ramadan lanterns at a shop in Beirut. AP -
A Palestinian man carries a tray of qatayef, traditional Arabic dumplings, in Rafah, southern Gaza. AFP -
A cannon is fired at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi to mark the end of fasting on the first day of Ramadan. Victor Besa / The National
