Many convenient ways of paying traffic fines

By Rayeesa Absal, Staff Reporter
Published: January 30, 2009, 23:33

Abu Dhabi: There are several ways in which motorists may pay traffic fines imposed on their vehicles. Penalty charges may be paid directly at the traffic departments or more conveniently, online.

Other modes of payment include over the phone by calling the 24-hour hotline of the Federal Traffic and Licensing System and paying through automated teller machines.

The Abu Dhabi Police’s website www.adpolice.gov.ae provides electronic enquiry and traffic fines payment system for motorists across all the emirates, helping residents to save time and effort.
Visit the bilingual website and click the electronic services tab to enquire about the fines. The enquiry may be made using the Federal Traffic Code (Traffic ID) or with the plate number of the vehicle or through the driver’s licence number.

Using the Traffic Federal code for the inquiry will help find fines on all the vehicles registered in the persons name unlike the plate number which only brings up fines on particular vehicle.

In order to pay online, select the fines to be paid, and complete the payment process by keying in your credit card details. The system provides quick and secure service with data being updated in less than five minutes.

To pay in person, go to the ‘Violations Section’ of Traffic and Licensing Department. Submit the vehicle ownership form or the driver’s licence. Pay the fine and collect a receipt.

The office is open from Sunday to Thursday from 7:30am until 2:30pm.

To pay over the phone, call the traffic hotline 8003333.

Details about traffic violations can be obtained in three ways – using the traffic ID, plate or licence number. Payment can be made by credit card. The system will send a fax message afterwards, to confirm payment of fines. Another way of clearing the traffic penalties is to use automated payment machines. These machines, which have touch screens and provide multiple services to customers. The services include inquiry on fines and other services of the police department.

Payment can be made by credit cards or in cash at these machines. They also provide information such as maps, pharmacies, weather and contact details of police stations. Also, complaints, suggestions and security information may be entered.

It is mandatory that all traffic fines on a vehicle are cleared before the registration of a vehicle can be renewed. To be on the safe side, keep all the receipts.

After months of in-house tweaking and testing, Etisalat has launched its voice directory service in an effort to reduce response times.

Initially available only to landline customers calling ‘181’, the service will soon be made available to Etisalat’s mobile customers as well.

The service works with the help of an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system that uses automatic speech recognition to distinguish commands in both Arabic and English, regardless of caller accent or dialect.

As the service is only in its first phase, it can presently only provide listings for five main categories – finance, travel, hotels, restaurants and healthcare. Other categories will be included at a later stage.

Customer service agents at Etisalat, who previously handled directory enquiries, will now provide support for other categories and requests that the system can’t handle.

(excerpt from Readers Comments in 7Days.ae)

Essential telephone numbers in UAE

Staff Report
Published: March 02, 2008, 10:27

Dubai: 999, the emergency number in the country, is one of the busiest numbers in the country, naturally, but often for all the wrong reasons.

Click here to download the Gulf News essential numbers guide for Dubai and Abu Dhabi (pdf)

Click here to download the Gulf News essential numbers guide for Sharjah (pdf)

Many residents call 999 seeking a taxi or to find out the traffic situation. Hundreds of trivial and inane calls are made to 999 every day, hindering the work of police on emergency duty.

A staggering 573,471 calls were made to 999 in 2007 and these were not emergencies. Most were enquiries on speed limits on roads, location of certain departments, traffic fines, transactions related to the Naturalisation and Residency Department and complaints against taxi drivers.

Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Chief of Dubai Police, recently said: “Nobody knows the amount of effort that goes into answering calls on 999. Therefore, people should only call 999 in case of emergencies which require the immediate presence of security or rescue personnel,” he said.

In an attempt to offer easy access to information, Gulf News has compiled some of the important telephone numbers in the country.

We have compiled some of the essential numbers, including traffic, transport and hospital numbers, which are in an easily downloadable PDF format. We will be adding to the list as and when we get and verify essential telephone numbers