Dubai: Undercover officials are putting the honesty of cab drivers to the test by purposely leaving valuables behind in cabs and monitoring if they return them, as part of a campaign.
If the driver decides to keep laptops, mobile phones, cameras or other valuables left behind by the ‘passengers', they are sent back to training to learn some basic lessons, the Roads and Transport Authority said yesterday.
"When the ‘Vehicles with No Lost Items' campaign was first organised in July last year, 21 valuable items were left behind in cabs by officials posing as passengers and three drivers chose not to return them," Mohammad Yousuf Salih, acting director of fleet operations at Dubai Taxi Corporation, told Gulf News.
These drivers were asked to undergo further training at the Drivers Training and Qualification Centre.
"In the second edition of the campaign, in December, out of 22 drivers tested only one person had to be sent back for training," Salih said.
There has been a significant improvement in driver behaviour, he said, adding that the success of the campaign in bringing down the number of cases of dishonesty has encouraged RTA to make the campaign an ongoing process.
There has been about 50 per cent reduction in the lost but not found items compared to the year before, he said.
"DTC used to receive about 25 to 35 lost items reports every day." There are more than 7,000 taxis in Dubai. From now on, the campaign will be held every three months.
Courtesy
"Not all lost items can be recovered. But it is very important for us to ensure our drivers are honest."
The training for drivers is a seven-step programme, and one of the topics covered is courtesy.
RTA encourages drivers to check before a passenger leaves the cab, he said.
Drivers are lectured about returning lost items from time to time, but they are not told when the campaign kicks off.
A few drivers are first identified by the Booking and Despatch Centre at RTA's Public Transport Agency to be tested. Then an undercover official, posing as a passenger, pretends to leave behind his personal belongings in the cab.
After a lost item report is lodged, the driver receives a phone call from a Customer Service employee, notifying the driver about the lost item. Depending on the conversation, it will be decided whether or not to put the cab on surveillance. "After further communication, if the driver attempts to run away with the lost item or hide it, he will be dealt with according to rules," he said.
Procedure: quick action taken
Once a passenger reports an item lost through the RTA Contact Centre on the toll free number 800 9090, the customer service employee feeds the report details to the system and refers it to the personnel concerned. An SMS is sent immediately quoting the Report Reference so that the complainant can refer to this number in further communications.
Among the key information needed is the side number of the taxicab, fare paid for the trip, and type of lost items, in addition to the day, date and time, roof colour of the taxicab, and the point where the rider got off from the taxi. These details are needed as there are several companies operating taxicabs in Dubai. In case DTC's staff fail to locate the lost items, the report is referred to the Investigation Section where the personnel concerned will verify the case through the internal electronic systems of the DTC and the customer will be summoned to identify the driver.
