UAE | Traffic and Transport

Motorists frustrated by long wait at RTA licensing offices

Motorists in Dubai are fuming because of long queues to renew their driving licences and resolve issues at the Roads and Transport Authority's licensing offices.

  • By Ashfaq Ahmed, Chief Reporter
  • Published: 00:53 March 6, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • People wait for long time to process licences and for other transactions at the RTA office on Al Wasl Road, Dubai.
  • Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News

Dubai: Motorists in Dubai are fuming because of long queues to renew their driving licences and resolve issues at the Roads and Transport Authority's licensing offices.

The number of visitors has increased substantially from the start of this month since the new traffic law came into effect from March 1 and motorists are rushing to get their documents in order to avoid heavy fines.

People waiting for a long time at the licensing centres told Gulf News that the RTA staff also need customer relations training since they are often frustrated when handling the huge rush and end up lashing out at customers.

They also demanded that the RTA increase their staff and open more offices to resolve the issue.

"I waited for at least two hours in the queue at the licensing office, which is based in the Union Cooperative Society premises on Al Wasl Road but was asked to go to the RTA office in Al Barsha. It was in vain because they stopped issuing tokens for the queue at 11.30am," said Simon, a Dubai resident who had to spend a full day to renew his driving licence.

Finally, he went to the Al Wasl Road office in the evening and got the job done but not without waiting in the queue for another two hours. "People were even lining up outside the office premises," he said.

"I have to take a day off from work to complete a transaction at the RTA office," said Khurram Shaikh, a Pakistani. He said he had to first wait in the queue to reach the information desk and then he was given a token to wait in the queue for another two hours.

Hussain Al Banna, Acting Director of the Licensing Department said that the sudden increase in the number of customers at licensing offices is because of a recent campaign against drivers.

Violations

He said that thousands of drivers have been found violating driving licence rules as they were caught driving light buses and trucks on a driving licence issued for cars only.

"Police have issued thousands of fines to drivers who were caught driving buses and trucks using the light vehicle licence," he said. A large number of them were even found driving heavy buses and trucks. "Action against such drivers is necessary because they are endangering not only the lives of the passengers they carry but are also a threat to other road users," Al Banna said.

He said that part of the rush at offices is caused by drivers who want to upgrade their licence to drive light buses and trucks. "We have noticed that many companies were using people who were not hired as drivers to transport their staff, labour and even goods. It is not acceptable. A driver working for a company needs to have a driver's visa," he said.

Al Banna said that the RTA is allowing drivers, who have light licences to upgrade them after meeting certain requirements but those who want to drive heavy buses and trucks need to undergo training for this category. Al Banna said that the RTA has also increased the working hours at the Deira Traffic Department from 8am to 6pm to cope with the rush.

Earlier, it used to operate from 8am to 2pm. He added that the RTA has opened 37 branches of licensing offices across the emirates including malls and cooperative stores. Small offices operate from 8am to 8pm.

Have your say
Do you know anybody who recently renewed their licence? How long did the process take? What do you think could be done to make the process more efficient? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com

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