Sharjah: More than 38,000 motorists who are driving vehicles with expired number plates in Sharjah are being warned to renew their vehicle registration, said the emirate’s top police officer.
New roadside cameras will soon be recording expired licence plates automatically when vehicles pass by and motorists will be fined.
Major-General Saif Ziri Al Shamsi, Sharjah Police Commander-in Chief, said motorists can pay their traffic fines in instalments but they must approach the department concerned to get necessary help.
Maj-Gen Al Shamsi made these remarks while speaking at a traffic forum held in Al Khalidiya suburb on Tuesday.
To avoid fines and help speed up renewals, Maj-Gen Al Shamsi said 15 machines will offer “Sahl services” across the city of Sharjah and motorists will be able to renew vehicle registration within two minutes at these machines.
The machines will be located in 13 branches of Sharjah Cooperative Society and one in Sharjah University and the other in the American University of Sharjah.
The device provides three basic services: issuance of fresh vehicle registration cards, getting a replacement card and payment of fines by a credit or debit card.
The renewal of a vehicle registration requires prior completion of the technical tests and insurance renewal before applying for the service on “Sahl”, he said.
Sharjah Police, he said, are keen to improve police services to the public in line with the Ministry of Interior’s objectives. More than 35,000 transactions were done using smart services in 2015 when these were introduced by Sharjah Police, while 61,000 transactions were done online in 2016 and 127,000 transactions in 2016.
Police personnel take an average of nine minutes to complete a transaction from the time a customer gets a token number at a traffic department centre, it was revealed during the forum, which was also attended by Colonel Ali Bualzod, director of Vehicles and Drivers’ Licensing Department; Lieutenant-Colonel Mohammad Ali Al Naqbi, director of Traffic and Patrol Department; and other senior police officers.
The Traffic and Patrol Department and the Vehicles and Drivers’ Licensing Department are now offering the majority of their services on digital platforms, Maj-Gen Al Shamsi said.
Col Bualzod said police will activate the roadside cameras to catch vehicles with expired registration plates soon.
Instagram chat sessions
The Traffic and Patrol Department will hold four live sessions on Instagram in a year — one session each in every quarter — to chat with people and listen to their complaints, comments and ideas about traffic and police services, Sharjah Police said.
One such session was held recently during which officers interacted with a large number of social media users.
