Dubai: People who leave their cars neglected for long will now get an SMS warning in Dubai.
Dubai Municipality has introduced the new system of SMS notification to help motorists get quick alerts to remove their cars and also to avoid disputes in certain cases, a senior official told Gulf News.
The civic body announced the new procedure through its social media pages.
“Maintaining city cleanliness, the #DubaiMunicipality will change procedures of unwanted vehicles, to facilitate notifying the owners of removing their abandoned vehicles, to preserve the beauty of the city, reserve and respect the residents’ rights to park,” the municipality tweeted.
A video explaining the new procedure was also posted.
The Department of Waste Management has upgraded the system after its officials came across cases where some owners were on holidays and some others were not aware of cars given for repairs being left at unauthorized parking areas by garages, said Abdul Majeed Abdul Aziz Al Saifaie, director of the Department.
He told Gulf News that the SMS system has been added to the existing system of issuing a sticker notice.
Sticker plus SMS
“We issue a sticker asking the owner to remove the abandoned car in certain number of days depending on the urgency of the situation or safety of the place. We found that in some cases the owners do not get to know this. So, we upgraded the procedures.”
The official said there have been cases of disputes when the municipality takes action on cars given for repairs and left neglected by the garage workers.
“Then there is argument among the three parties. If the owner gets the SMS, then he will know the problem soon,” he said.
Saifaie observed that some people leave cars next to mosques and parks and travel.
“In some apartments with only one car parking for tenants park their other cars away. SMS notification will help all these people to immediately know that we have issued a warning to remove their cars within the specified time period. They can act accordingly,” he explained.
A total of 2,053 abandoned vehicles were impounded till the end of July in 2019, while as many as 3,577 vehicles were confiscated in 2018.
In September last year, the Waste Management Department had launched a month-long campaign to raise awareness about the menace of vehicles and equipment left neglected in public places.
Cars left dirty can be fined Dh500 under the ‘My Vehicle’ campaign of the Waste Management Department of Dubai Municipality.
Confiscated cars are kept in the municipality’s yard for six months. If the owners claim the car in this time, they have to pay a fine of Dh1,381, including municipal fines, storage charges and towing fee. If an impounded car is not claimed within six months, it will be auctioned.
