43 major firms in Dubai have established link with licensing agency

Dubai: The switch to mandatory online insurance for the registration of vehicles has received a good response from motorists and insurance companies, said a senior official.

“Majority of the insurance companies in Dubai have already rolled out an online vehicle insurance service to cope with the new online initiative,” Ahmad Hashem Behroozian, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Licensing Agency of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), told Gulf News.

Some 43 major motor insurance companies which cover more than 95 per cent of vehicle insurance in Dubai have already established an online link with the Licensing Agency ensuring availability of insurance data online.

The RTA stopped accepting physical insurance documents for vehicle registration from March 1 and now requires all insurance companies to send vehicle records online. Annual registration of vehicles is a massive exercise as the number of registered vehicles in Dubai has increased to 1,021,880 in 2009, compared to 996,997 in 2008.

Documents also needed

Behroozian, however, advised motorists to carry their insurance papers as well while going for registration because they may be required in case there is a technical hitch in receiving online insurance. “Initially, we faced some technical issues in receiving online insurance data from some insurance companies but it has been sorted out,” he said, adding that the RTA would be a little flexible and also accept paper insurance but only in case of technical problems relating to data transfer.

A list of the insurance companies linked with the RTA is available online on the RTA’s website and it is updated regularly. More than 43 leading companies have already linked their systems with the RTA and all the companies operating at car registration offices also provide online insurance.

Behroozian asked motorists to check with their respective insurance companies whether they are now linked online with the RTA and to make sure to provide online insurance to avoid inconvenience.

Currently, a motorist has to first go to the insurance company to get his car insured, which is a prerequisite to get the vehicle registered with the RTA. He then physically carries the insurance paper to the Licensing Agency or car registration offices to renew the registration.

With the implementation of the new online system, a motorist will just pay the insurance fee using the online service and the company will send the information online to the RTA car registration offices.

“The online service has made our lives easier. It took less time and energy to get the vehicle registered this time because I did not have to drive to the insurance company to pick up my papers as it was all done online,” said Khurram Malek, an engineer.

Reminders via sms

The RTA has urged motorists to get their vehicles registered on time to avoid inconvenience at a later stage and to ensure the safety of all road users.

Mohammad Abdul Kareem Nimat, director of the Vehicle Licensing Department at the RTA, said the agency had put in place a mechanism whereby the owner of each vehicle is sent an SMS as a reminder to renew registration of his or her vehicle. Messages are sent out two weeks before the registration expires and also one month after the date for registration has passed. He said the main aim of annual vehicle registration was to carry out technical inspection of vehicles to ensure their roadworthiness. “People driving vehicles with expired registration endanger their lives in addition to posing serious threats to other road users,” he added.