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Rush at typing centres

Dubai residents have been rushing to fill out the e-forms at typing centres in order to avoid delay fees after the Emirates Identity Authority’s (Eida) deadline of May 31 for Dubai.

Registering for the Emirates ID at typing centres or through its website would help avoid delay fees, which will be applicable across the emirate from June 1.

Most typing centres recorded an increase in the number of applicants. “We register up to 150 applicants per day and since last week people have been rushing to typing centres to avoid the Dh20 fine for each day of delay,” said a typing centre employee. Despite the rush, some typing centres have limited the tokens, making it almost impossible to avoid the fines for late applicants. “We are working for more hours to keep up with the increasing numbers. We work everyday from 7.30am to 7.30pm, and half-day on Saturdays,” the employee added.

However, Eida did not mention any rush across its centres. Jasim Al Raeesi, Director of Al Barsha Eida centre, said, “Al Barsha Eida centre, one of the largest centres in the UAE, did not witness any rush in the past couple of days. All applicants register at typing centres then get a date and time for their 10-minute ID registration completion,” he said.

The Authority clarified that the expiry of the deadline given to the owners of residence visas issued in Dubai came within the framework of a timeline announced in September 2011 for completing the registration of the whole UAE population.

The authority also announced the launch of a comprehensive media and advertising campaign across Dubai with the aim of urging residents to register in the population register and ID card system and renew their expired cards before the end of May to avoid the delay fees.

The campaign included advertisements in all printed and electronic media, social networking sites and the Emirates ID’s website. The campaign also targetted users of the Dubai Metro and a number of public transport buses in the emirate. It included the distribution of around 1 million copies of two brochures in nine languages, one titled ‘Register now ... Don’t wait until the last minute’ and the other titled, ‘Do not Get Confused’. The brochures target customers and visitors of most federal and local government facilities in the emirate and the Emirates Identity Authority-affiliated registration centres.

The Emirates Identity Authority pointed out that the population register and ID card system is a strategic national project aimed at enhancing national and individual security. Keeping an accurate population register would support decision-making and providing innovative government electronic services.

ahmedjamal@khaleejtimes.com