Source:Â www.rta.ae
The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has won the GCC Best Customer Service Award in the field of eServices of licensing drivers & vehicles and payment of all sorts of offences during an event held at the sidelines of the 2nd GCC eGovernment Conference and Exhibition recently convened in Kuwait.
RTA clinched this Award after seeing off tough competition from scores of project bids made by GCC Ministries and government agencies. The projects tendered were assessed by an international panel of judges comprising five judges from different countries across the globe.
The Award was accepted on behalf of the RTA by Ahmed Hashim Bahrozyan, CEO of Licensing Agency, in a ceremony held under the auspices of HH Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Sabah, Prime Minister of Kuwait, who was represented by H.E. Eng. Salem Mutheeb Al Uthaina, Minister of Electricity & Water, and Acting Minister of Information & Transport, and Chairman of the Central IT Agency.
H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA, was delighted with this latest feat added to the impressive achievements record of the RTA; which is packed with vital projects & strategic initiatives capable of enhancing the image of the UAE in general and Dubai Emirate in particular at the regional & global levels, besides offering an impetus for everyone to redouble efforts and make optimal utilization of the existing projects.
Elaborating the achievement, Al Tayer said: “RTA has mapped out an integrated strategy to witch customer services to the electronic mode and offer them online in keeping with the vision and trend of the eGovernment. Such a strategy was based on the speedy processing and customer centricity. For this end RTA has been in full coordination with the eGovernment towards defining RTA eServices and using the metrics of Dubai eGovernment.
“The total number of eServices delivered by the RTA has topped 160 services (procedural & informational) representing all services deliverable online. The process of switching to the eServices achieved by the RTA has so far clocked 100 per cent of all services previously agreed upon with the Dubai eGovernment, and the initiatives and activities undertaken by the RTA in the field of eServices have contributed to easing the procedures of customer services,” said Al Tayer.
He continued: “Drivers and vehicles licensing as well as payment of fine services at the RTA have undergone extensive evolution reflected in diversifying the service delivery channels offered by RTA customers at the forefront of which come the modern communication technologies, RTA portal (www.rta.ae), and trusted agents in addition to the conventional channels in place at service centers of the RTA or its service providers.
About 34 different services are currently being provided through these channels such as the issuance of vehicle ownership certificates, issuance & renewal of driving licenses, renewal of vehicle ownership cards, online auctioning of number plates, commercial registration services, verification of certificates and other services available through the website or Call Center. Thus the customer’s physical presence is no longer a pre-condition for delivering the service.
“Last November, RTA launched the delivery of vehicle registration renewal, driving license renewal and payment of traffic fines through phone calls to RTA Call Center (8009090); the first service of its kind ever offered in the Middle East. Thus the public are enabled to process their transactions relating to renewal of vehicles registration & driving licenses as well as payment of fines through four channels namely: RTA website (www.rta.ae), RTA Customer Service Centers across Dubai, RTA-approved insurance companies and eyesight testing centers, and recently through phone calls to RTA Call Center (8009090).
As such the Call Center is converted from just a channel of responding to customer inquiries and furnishing callers with some information to an advanced center for operations and delivering services to customers.
“In the first half of this year, RTA has managed to establish a link with the Federal Traffic System and now it is possible for drivers and owners of vehicles registered in Dubai to renew their driving licenses and vehicles registration in other Emirates. It is also now possible for drivers and owners of vehicles registered in other Emirates to renew their driving licenses and vehicles registration in Dubai through three centers; Al Barsha Center, Umm Ramool Center, and Deira Center. In order to make it easy for RTA customers in other Emirates, offences made in other Emirates have been linked with RTA e-licensing system in a way enabling automatic update, and exchange of information & details relating to vehicles and individuals with the federal traffic system. Added to that, the services of the Federal Traffic System delivered to customers dealing with the licensing bodies in other Emirates are now provided at RTA-affiliated service delivery centers.
“The implementation of the project has assisted in recovering fines due to the RTA reported against vehicles in other Emirates (Salik & parking offences in particular) and police-related offences, thus easing the congestion at customer service centers, raising customers satisfaction rating, and boosting the integration and cooperation between various licensing bodies in both the public and customer interest.
“RTA has linked its traffic system with more than 40 public and private entities in order to minimize human errors in data entry, and nurture an environment assisting the accelerated delivery of services to the public. As a result of this drive, the volume of transactions processed online through non-conventional means, including vehicles & drivers licensing and number plates, increased to more than 2400 transactions per month and the number is constantly on the rise.
There is also a remarkable increase in the number of hits recorded by RTA website which clocked 25000 hits per month; which in turn has resulted in slashing the transaction processing time of vehicle registration renewal from 15 minutes to 2 minutes, driving license renewal from 8 minutes to 3 minutes and opening a traffic file from 10 minutes to 2 minutes; which is a direct result of establishing a link with the system of the General Department of Residency and Foreigners Affairs,” said RTA Chairman of the Board and Executive Director in a final remark.
It is note-worthy that GCC eGovernment Award was established in the wake of the decision of the General Secretariat of the GCC countries with a view to nurturing competitiveness between GCC ministries and government agencies as a means of leveraging the eGovernments of the region.
