Press Releases
21 Dec 2018
Honouring female British tourist for reporting passenger transport violator
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has honoured a female British tourist for her cooperation with RTA and the Tourist Police by quickly reporting a person practicing unlicensed passenger transport business. The violator has exploited the said tourist financially.
“The incident occurred to a British tourist arriving through Dubai Airport. Upon exiting the Airport, she met that person who offered her a ride to the intended hotel in Bur Dubai. He charged her an inflated amount, which was much more than the taxi fare applicable in this case,” said Mohammed Nabhan, Director of Passenger Transport Activities Monitoring at RTA’s Public Transport Agency.
“She noted that the fare was so high when compared to a similar fare in London, and reported the matter to the hotel management, who advised her to report the case to RTA. RTA’s Call Center communicated with Passenger Transport Activities Monitoring Department to track the case. The concerned officials managed to turn-in the violator within just two hours.”
“RTA is endeavoring to combat outlawed transport activities pursuant to the Resolution of the Executive Council No (6) for 2016 governing passenger transport on vehicles in Dubai along with the administrative penalties provided for in the Resolution ranging from fine and impounding the vehicle to deportation of the violator,” he explained.
Measures taken to curb on the unlicensed transport phenomenon include the deployment of RTA-licensed taxis in places where this illegal practice is growing. Campaigns are held to sensitize riders of public transport, taxis and limousines in those places, including airports. Crackdowns are made in conjunction with strategic partners such as the Dubai Police (criminal investigations, airport security and tourist police), Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, in addition to Residency and Foreigners Affairs Directorate where administrative deportation is enforced on recurrent violators.
“Violators are detected and arrested, and the vehicle used in recurrent offences is impounded. The driver’s permit will be abolished and recurrent violators will be subjected to administrative deportation,” noted Nabhan.
“Campaigns made are not aimed to collect fines from violators; they are rather focused on achieving three key objectives: curbing illegal transport practices, intensifying the monitoring of offenders, and reducing complaints, especially in airports, tourist destinations and malls.
“Imposing fines is just a deterrent to foil this negative practice, and protect the rights of franchise & limousine companies licensed in Dubai. Penalties in place also aim to ensure the enforcement of governing rules & regulations, and stepping up the efficiency of field inspectors to curb illegal conduct on the part of taxi drivers and chauffeurs,” concluded Nabhan.