Dubai: Motorists can now choose to get their vehicles tested and registered in the quiet of the night, avoiding long queues at daytime as the Roads Transport Authority (RTA) starts 24/7 services at four of its centres.

The 24-hour operations will begin from today (April 1) at Tasjeel Centre Al Barsha, Tasjeel Centre Al Twar,  Wasel Belhasa Vehicle Testing Centre in Al Jaddaf and Quick Registration in Al Ghusais.

The initiative comes as the RTA aims to add capacity to its service centres in the face of increasing demand.

“We are exploring ways to offer greater convenience and serve people in a better way. This initiative is in line with His Highness Shaikh Mohammad’s instructions to offer 24-hour service to people. Our focus is to offer smart solutions through mobile, internet as well as service centres. Since certain services like vehicle testing have to be done physically and cannot be done on mobile, we are expanding our service hours,” said Ahmad Hashem Behroozian, CEO of RTA’s Licensing Agency.

Though services offered beyond regular hours – 10pm to 7am – will be limited, motorists can get their vehicles tested and registered by avoiding the daytime rush.

“We have seen a great rush in our centres over the last year due to increase in the number of vehicles in Dubai. There has been an 11 per cent growth in vehicles registered in Dubai last year. By adding working hours we are trying to accommodate the rush,” added Behroozian.

According to statistics made available by RTA, at least 160,000 new vehicles were registered in Dubai last year, taking the total number of vehicles to 1.3 million.

Behroozian said that the Licensing Agency is working with private firms owning big fleets of vehicles to use the 24-hour facility and get their vehicles tested and registered at night.

“Moving some of these firms to get their vehicles tested during night will help reduce waiting time during the day; hopefully, we will succeed in convincing some of these firms soon,” he said.

Initially, only limited lanes and counters will be open for services at the four 24-hour centres and the capacity will increase with the hike in demand.

Of the four 24/7 centres only Tasjeel Al Twar has vehicle testing facilities but RTA has installed an electronic kiosk to offer registration services.

RTA has eight partner firms offering registration and vehicle testing services at 22 centres across Dubai.