Dubai: The revenue collected online by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in the first nine months of this year has passed Dh150 million.
Officials anticipate the figure to beat the Dh174 million collected online last year, as the authority is introducing more and more e-services.
"At Gitex this year RTA is showcasing 20 new e-services and gadgets," Ahmad Behroozian, CEO of the RTA's Licensing Agency, said yesterday.
"We aim to reach out to more people and serve the customers better by adding new online services and by enhancing existing services.
"Online transactions save time and efforts of customers, as transactions can be done at the push of a button. So we see every e-service as a value addition to our services portfolio."
So far, RTA offers 160 online services.
They include purchase and renewal of parking seasonal cards, e-services for Nol cards and inquiry and payment of fines. An upgraded version of the latest iPhone application allows the payment of parking fees, booking of taxis, fare calculation, nearest customer service centres and the new stations on the Green Line of the Dubai Metro.
The Licensing Agency offers bundles of e-services related to vehicles including ordering a personalised number plate, amending vehicle details and applying for certificates for vehicle export, vehicle ownership, vehicle possession, clearance, ownership transfer and new vehicle registration. Other services include amending insurance details and renewal or change of number plate.
A host of services for drivers is also on offer such as licence renewal, inquiries about black points, replacement of lost/damaged licences and the replacement of a licence issued in another emirate.
More and more drivers are using RTA services with the number using their phones to pay for parking (m-parking) growing by 10 to 15 per cent per month, Behroozian said. The number registered to use the m-parking service hit 125,000 this year. In addition, 12,000 companies have registered.
"Sending out text messages to our customers is a robust way for us to keep in touch with the community. This year, 23 million messages have been sent to members of the public and various businesses", Behroozian said.
The RTA's website attracted 5.7 million users this year. "We have generated a lot of public interest on our website. Now, we are striving towards translating this into online transactions, which is why Gitex is an ideal platform for us," Behroozian added.
