Eida says ‘register now’ for ID cards

ABU DHABI - The Emirates Identity Authority (Eida) recently launched a campaign to spread the importance of registering for the Emirates Identity Cards among the residents.

The campaign, being carried out through advertisements on public buses in various emirates, and through other means of publication has the slogan, “Register Now… Don’t wait until the last minute”, both in Arabic and English languages.

Abdul Aziz Al Maamari, Director of Public Relations and Marketing at the Eida, said: “The launch of this advertising campaign comes as part of the authority’s efforts to urge the UAE population to speed up registering in the population register and ID card and renewing expired ID cards. It also requests people not to wait until the last minute of the grace periods given for registration or renewal of the ID cards so as to avoid the delay fees approved by the Cabinet’s decision number 25 for 2011.”

The authority earlier commenced its campaign by publishing the advertisement on a number of public transport buses of the Department of Transport in Abu Dhabi. The campaign is now expanded to include a number of buses that belonged to the Roads and Transport Authority- Dubai and Sharjah Public Transport Corporation. Al Maamari said the campaign will continue for four months.

It is aimed at expediting the completion of the population register programme and ID card project, which will pave the way for a stage where innovated electronic government services are provided.

As part of the campaign, 450,000 copies of brochures were deposited in the post office boxes across various emirates in the UAE. Brochures were also distributed through authorised typing centres, the service points of government authorities and all Emirates Identity Authority-affiliated registration centres, he said.

Talking to Khaleej Times recently, Dr Ali Mohammed Al Khouri, Director-General of Eida, said the authority is currently producing 40,000 ID cards per day. He added that the Eida expects that everybody in the country will have an Emirates ID card by the end of 2013.

Dr Al Khouri urged residents not to wait for last minute but register with the Eida as soon as possible.

He said delay fees will be applied on Sharjah residents for not registering for or not renewing the Emirates ID card from February 1. It will be applicable for Abu Dhabi residents from April 1 and Dubai residents will have to pay the delay fees from June 1, 2012.

The delay fee is Dh20 per day, up to a maximum of Dh1,000. The delay fees would also apply in delayed renewal of the ID card, 30 days after the expiry date. Delay in reporting any change in the details 30 days after the change date will also bring a fine, he said.

According to Al Maamari, public buses are one of the major means of transport in the UAE and are used by millions of people daily, which reflects their importance. The size of a bus helps advertisements to be shownclearly and directly, which enables millions of people including passengers and other road users to see it and be aware of the message, he added.

THE DELAY FEES

· November 1, 2011 for UAE Nationals.

· December 1, 2011 for government and semi-government employees (Federal and Local) and their families.

· December 1, 2011 for residents of Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Ajman.

· February 1, 2012 for Sharjah residents.

· April 1, 2012 for Abu Dhabi residents

· June 1, 2012 for Dubai residents·

· Delay fees will be applied to children below 15 as of October 1, 2012.

CARDS DELIVERED

· Two million ID cards delivered since February, 2011.

· 12,000 ID cards are delivered nationwide per day.

· 337,000 ID cards have been delivered to personal P. O. boxes.

· 250,000 ID cards are ready for delivery at the centres.

· 40 per cent of customers receive their cards within two days from notification.

· 92 per cent of customers receive their cards within 14 days.

• UAE