By Ashfaq Ahmed, Chief Reporter www.gulfnews.com
Dubai: Dubai Metro commuters will soon be able to get their personalised Nol Blue Cards with their photographs on it, said a senior official.
“The Nol Blue Cards, which will be launched in a few weeks, are personalised cards aimed at protecting the users from any misuse of their Metro fare cards,” said Abdullah Al Madani, Chief Executive Officer of the Corporate Technical Support Services at the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
He said the blue card will not only have picture of the cardholder but also contain his personal details and no one else would be able to use the card.
Online application
The online application service to the Blue Card will be launched in November.
The first Nol Blue Card was issued to His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai on the day of inauguration of the Dubai Metro on September 9.
Customers will also be able to apply for the card at the RTA customer service centres and ticket offices at the Metro stations.
The cards will be delivered to the applicants by courier. Users of the Blue Card will also be able to track their transactions online.
Al Madani said that a number of companies have already requested the RTA to provide the Blue Cards for their employees and the RTA is working on their requests.
Top up facilities
He said that online top up facilities for the Nol Silver and the Nol Gold Cards would also be available online in the first quarter of the next year.
Currently, commuters can top up their cards only at the Metro station ticket offices, ticket vending machines, RTA’s customer service centre and selected outlets.
These cards have e-purse of up to Dh500.
Al Madani said that special discount fare cards for students, elderly and people with special needs would be issued from the second quarter of next year whereas the monthly Nol passes will also be available in the second quarter of the next year when the Metro will be fully operational.
Al Madani said that the RTA is focused on providing its services online to facilitate its customers.
“RTA has about 140 e-services on offer through various electronic channels as well as its portal [www.rta.ae],” he said.
