Abu Dhabi: If you committed a parking violation and thought it had gone unnoticed, think again.
Computer systems at the Department of Transport’s (DoT) parking management programme, Mawaqif, are now talking to each other and digging out parking offences from years past.
The development has left Abu Dhabi motorists baffled and angry.
“I am shocked beyond disbelief,” said an irate resident who was slapped with a Dh1,000 fine last week for a parking offence dating back to 2010.
“I renew my parking permit annually. It always comes back clean, but this year when I visited the Mawaqif customer service centre to renew my permit they fined me Dh1,000 saying that in 2010 I had parked my car in a bay allocated for government vehicles. I don’t remember doing anything of this sort and the fact that they didn’t share any evidence to back their claim didn’t help either. How can I have a fine pending for six years? I have neither been issued a ticket in the past nor was the violation recorded in my file till last year,” said the man who has since lodged a complaint with Mawaqif.
No evidence
Another Abu Dhabi motorist who was also penalised Dh1,000 for a similar violation dating back to 2010 said he was not given any evidence of the violation. “All they gave me was a paper mentioning the date and type of violation.”
A Mawaqif staff member said the pending fines have surfaced because their customer data integration has kicked off only now.
“These violations existed but didn’t show up as they were not integrated into the accounts of customers,” said the customer service official. The paid parking system was introduced in Abu Dhabi in 2010 under which parking bays were classified into standard and premium throughout the emirate. Paid parking is enforced from 8am to 9pm Saturdays to Thursdays at a rate of Dh3 per hour for premium and Dh2 per hour for standard parking.
