How to Start a Direct Selling of Fuel Business with Meydan Free Zone

Fuel delivery is one of the oldest forms of commerce and one of the fastest changing. LPG cylinder rounds and heating oil deliveries now sit alongside app-based vehicle refuelling and mobile fleet fuelling. Activity code 4799.02 is the license for taking fuel to the customer.

This guide covers what the license allows, who buys from you, the approvals question, and the steps to get set up. Read the approvals section carefully, because the source guidance for this code leaves that position blank and it needs settling before you trade.

Key Stats at a Glance

What This License Covers

Code 4799.02 sits within ISIC class 4799, which covers retail sale of any product in any way not included in the previous classes. Within that class, 4799.02 is designated specifically for the direct selling of fuel, heating oil, firewood and equivalent combustible energy products delivered to the customer's premises.

It applies to any business that sells and physically delivers fuel of any kind, from LPG cylinders and diesel to firewood and charcoal, directly to residential, commercial or industrial addresses, without operating from a permanent retail shop or stall.

One distinction is worth holding onto. This is a separate sub-code from 4799.01, which covers direct sales persons and vending machines more broadly. 4799.02 applies to fuel and energy product delivery as its own named activity type.

Who Your Clients Will Be

Three delivery formats, three different customers. Residential LPG is the traditional base. UAE households relying on bottled LPG, plus hospitality venues and commercial kitchens, buy on a replacement cycle rather than a whim, which gives the business a steady rhythm.

On-demand vehicle refuelling is the growth end. App-based operators deliver petrol or diesel to vehicles, generators and equipment at customer premises, and the convenience of not driving to a station is what commands the margin premium.

Commercial fleet and industrial supply is the volume end. Fleet depots, construction sites, logistics yards and data centres take diesel and fuel oil on contract, supported by a logistics sector that grew 7.2% in 2024 with 14.1 million TEU moving through Jebel Ali.

Mainland or Free Zone

Because the whole activity is physical delivery to third-party premises, a mainland license from the Department of Economy and Tourism is the practical route for the operating entity.

Meydan Free Zone gives you full foreign ownership and a digital setup, which suits a technology platform, a holding company or a coordination layer sitting above licensed delivery operations.

The more important point is what does not vary. Fuel is a controlled product in every UAE jurisdiction, and the sibling diesel transport activity carries pre-establishment approvals from the Supreme Council of Energy and the Roads and Transport Authority. Confirm in writing what applies to your specific product range and delivery model before you commit to vehicles or stock.

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Step by Step Setup Guide

• Step 1, settle the approvals question first: Confirm in writing with the licensing authority which energy sector, transport and safety approvals apply to your product range and delivery model. Do this before anything else. ‍
• Step 2, define your format: Residential LPG, on-demand vehicle refuelling, or commercial fleet and industrial supply. Each carries a different vehicle, storage and compliance profile. ‍
• Step 3, choose your jurisdiction: Mainland through DET for the delivery operation, or Meydan Free Zone for a platform or holding structure. ‍
• Step 4, book your trade name: Check availability through the DET portal or the Meydan Free Zone portal, following UAE naming conventions. ‍
• Step 5, secure supply relationships: The UAE LPG network includes Emirates Gas, ADNOC Distribution, Brothers Gas, Dubai Oil and Gas Company, Lootah BC and Smart Gas. You need a supply agreement before you have a business. ‍
• Step 6, build compliant vehicles and storage: Fuel delivery vehicles and any storage you hold carry safety conditions. Settle these before you take a first order. ‍
• Step 7, collect your license, open a bank account and register for VAT: Register with the Federal Tax Authority once taxable turnover passes AED 375,000.

Compliance and What You Need in Place

The approvals gap

The source guidance for code 4799.02 does not state a third-party approval position, and that silence should not be read as permission. Fuel is a controlled product, and the closely related diesel fuel transport activity carries pre-establishment approvals from the Supreme Council of Energy and the Roads and Transport Authority. Get written confirmation of what applies to you before you trade, not after.

Vehicles and storage

Delivering combustible product to residential and commercial premises brings safety conditions on the vehicle, the containers and any storage you hold. These are operational prerequisites whatever the license says.

Supply chain

The UAE LPG market is served by a developed network. Sharjah LPG Corporation, in which the Sharjah Government holds a 60% stake, processes output from the Sajaa, Moweyid and Kahaif fields for markets across Sharjah and Dubai. Understanding where your product originates matters commercially and for compliance.

Insurance

Public liability cover is essential in a business that takes combustible product to other people's premises. Most commercial clients will make it a condition of contract.

Driver competence

Whether you are delivering cylinders to homes or refuelling vehicles on site, the person doing it is handling a hazard. Training and certification protect the business as much as the customer.

VAT

Register with the Federal Tax Authority once taxable turnover passes AED 375,000.

Market Opportunity

The commercial logic is simple. Fuel is essential, its delivery is urgent when supplies run low, and taking the product to the customer rather than making them come to a station creates convenience value that commands a margin premium.

The numbers reflect that. The global mobile fuel delivery market was valued at USD 5.06 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 8.75 billion by 2032 at 7.1% CAGR, while the on-demand segment specifically was USD 251.2 million in 2024 and is growing at 18.2% CAGR through 2031. Regionally, MEA on-demand fuel delivery is growing at 17.9% CAGR to 2031.

The UAE is one of the most commercially active environments for it. CAFU, Dubai's leading on-demand fuel delivery app, raised USD 15 million in 2024 and had serviced 100,000 users by late 2025. On the commercial side, ADNOC Distribution recorded a 9% uplift in fleet volumes in 2025 on fleet-card programmes and mobile refuelling, while multi-energy hubs are growing at 20.2% CAGR as sites add electricity and hydrogen alongside petroleum.

Conclusion

Direct selling of fuel under code 4799.02 sits in a segment growing at nearly 18% a year, in a country with the density, the fleet base and the consumer appetite to support it.

The commercial case is strong across all three formats.

What is not settled is the approvals position, because the guidance for this code leaves it blank while the closely related diesel transport activity carries SCOE and RTA pre-establishment conditions. Get that confirmed in writing before you commit capital. Speak to the Meydan Free Zone team to establish exactly what applies to your model.

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References

• Mordor Intelligence
• Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism
• Roads and Transport Authority
• Federal Tax Authority