Dubai
Taxi booking services via the Roads and Transport Authority’s (RTA) mobile app S’hail is down for the last couple of days as the authority upgrades the system.
The app based booking facility caters to a third of taxi bookings in Dubai and a significant number of passengers have faced difficulties finding the cabs.
Passengers trying to book for a taxi via the RTA’s S’hail app could not find the options for a regular taxi, showing the availability of only Careem and Uber cabs for booking.
Passengers trying to book through e-hail apps also had similar issues, with the apps not showing the availability of regular taxis.
According to the RTA, the system is currently undergoing an upgrade and all the channels of booking will be up and running soon.
“RTA is currently working at enhancing user experience and as such the taxi booking service for some users could be unavailable until mid-day (today). We are working to resolve the issue and in the meantime the users are requested to call the RTA Taxi Dispatch Centre on 042080808 to complete their bookings. RTA regrets any inconvenience caused and would thank our users for their patience and cooperation,” the RTA said in a statement.
According to the data released by the RTA last year, taxis reach passengers within 12 minutes of placing the booking with around 72 per cent taxi bookings made through call centres and the remaining made through the apps.
As many as 12.3 million taxi bookings were processed last year by the RTA’s booking and dispatch centre.