Vehicle testing soon to be outsourced in Dubai

Dubai:  Vehicle owners in Dubai will soon be able to carry out annual mandatory vehicle technical testing at some leading car garages and service centres, Gulf News has learnt.

"We are in talks with some leading vehicle service centres and car repair garages to conduct annual technical testing which is mandatory for the renewal of vehicle registration," said Ahmad Hashim Behroozian, Chief Executive Officer of the RTA's Licensing Agency. He said the new initiative is part of the Licensing Agency's plan to provide diversified channels for vehicle testing and registration.

"Also, we want to make it easier for our customers to use our services and reduce their visits to the RTA offices and vehicle testing centres, which is under immense pressure due to heavy rush," Behroozian told Gulf News.

He said the new system will be in place within months.

He said the accredited garage would test vehicles as per the RTA's requirement and issue a vehicle testing certificate which is required when renewing a vehicle's registration.

"A similar system is already operating in UK where garages test vehicles and the registration is either renewed online or at post offices," he said.

Once a car is tested either at garages, Tasjeel or other approved centres, a motorist will have the option to renew the registration using diversified channels. He can renew the registration by visiting the RTA customer service centre, use the online service, call the RTA's toll free number or through approved insurance companies.

"We want to minimise face to face dealings with our customers by encouraging them to use different modes of services," he added.

Hassle-free service

Introducing the car testing at the garages, he said, aims at providing motorists hassle-free service as they will not have to wait in queues to get their cars tested.

"We are introducing different channels for vehicle registration because the number of registered vehicles has increased to more than 1.03 million by the end of October and it is a massive exercise to test such large numbers of vehicles and renew registration every year," he noted.

Pressure on testing centres has even increased further since the RTA has also allowed motorists from all over the UAE to renew their driving licences and vehicle registrations from its facilities in Dubai. The service was launched in October at the selected centres including the RTA Main Customer Service Centre at Umm Ramool, Deira Licensing Centre and Al Barsha Licensing Centre. Technical testing of vehicles from other emirates can be done at all the approved testing centres in Dubai.

Registration: Over the phone

Starting November 1, the RTA has allowed motorists to renew their vehicle registration and driving licence over the phone.

"Instead of driving down to RTA offices and waiting in queues, customers can simply call the customer service number of the RTA to renew their vehicle registrations," said Ahmad Hashim Behroozian, Chief Executive Officer of the RTA's Licensing Agency.

The RTA call centre agent takes all the details related to the renewal of vehicle registrations or the driving licences and payment is made using credit cards.