The registration of commercial vehicles in Dubai will go online-only from November, the local Roads and Transport Authority announced.
The step is a prelude to individual vehicle owners being required to renew online from next year, the government body said.
Registration services currently offered at customer service centres will be diverted to electronic and smart channels, such as the RTA website (www.rta.ae) and its ‘Drivers and Vehicles’ smartphone app, said Ahmed Bahrozyan, CEO of the RTA Licensing Agency.
Diverting the registration to electronic channels will ease the congestion on customer service centres, and enable firms to process their transactions and services without being obliged to visit the service points, he added.
“Meetings were held with representatives of the concerned companies where they were familiarised with the new service, and offered a chance to express improvement views and comments which are being taken into consideration,” Bahrozyan said.
The government entity began the process of moving commercial vehicle registration online in 2013, when it banned the use of cash payments by companies to renew the registration of their vehicles.
Instead, the RTA introduced a payment system called the e-wallet, a free debit service designed by the authority which can be used by firms to pay for licensing services.
The ban on cash transactions for fleet owners was introduced in a phased manner. Firms owning a fleet of over 1,000 vehicles were targeted first, followed by fleets of over 500 vehicles, and eventually smaller firms.
Around 55,000 firms with a combined fleet of more than 400,000 vehicles will be required to process registrations online once the system is in place from November 1, Gulf News reported.
