Lost items in taxis: RTA finds over Dhs1m, 12,410 phones

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

“In the first half of this year, RTA received 5,724 emergency reports through the Call Centre and (Madinati) through RTA DUBAI app. The instant response and sign-off rate clocked 99%, which reflects the mutual response between the community and RTA and the public’s keenness to protect the appearance of the emirate. “During the same period, the Call Centre received 44,062 reports of items lost in taxis. Found items included a total sum of Dhs1,272,800 in cash, 12,410 mobile phones, 2,819 electronic devices, 766 passports, and 342 laptops,” explained Mehailah Al Zahmi, Director of Customers Happiness, Corporate Administrative Support Services Sector, RTA.

“RTA honours taxi drivers for their honesty and credibility. It is a gesture of recognition of their valuable efforts to present a good image of the UAE in general and Dubai in particular to tourists, visitors, and residents using taxis in the emirate, and at the same time motivates taxi drivers to deliver more and better services to taxi riders. RTA also honours the best performing taxi franchise companies along with their outstanding drivers through the Taxi Excellence Award,” she concluded.

The Call Centre (8009090) of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has received 951,492 calls during the first half of 2022.

Commenting on the results achieved during the period Mehailah Al Zahmi said, “We are pleased to receive the public calls via the Call Centre (8009090), but we’re always encouraging the community to use smart and digital channels to obtain our diverse package of services.”

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: “Keeping in line with the government’s push towards digitisation and making Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world, and out of RTA’s commitment to making customers happy by availing them smooth and unique service experiences, we continuously strive to educate and encourage customers to use RTA’s smart and digital channels to complete their transactions. Consequently, this drive resulted in reducing the dependency on the Call Centre for certain services, including public transport journey planning and parking, which resulted in a 20% drop in the incoming calls. Additionally, the Madinati service in RTA Dubai smart app has been improved, allowing users to report faults and damages via the app. Consequently, the service uptake in the first half of this year soared by 34% over the level reported during the first half of last year,” added Al Zahmi.

“RTA is currently considering upgrading the technology in use at the Call Centre by introducing artificial intelligence to ease customers’ accessibility to various channels. An improved automatic answering system will be launched enabling natural conversation run by a virtual advisor instead of using the phone’s keypad to choose options from the autoresponder menu. Work is also underway to introduce interactive and instant emotional analysis on all calls handled by the centre, which helps to understand the needs of customers and gauge their satisfaction with the services provided,” she explained.

NUMBERS AND DETAILS: Commenting on the number of complaints and suggested improvements received from the public, Al Zahmi revealed that RTA had received in the first half of this year 49,353 complaints and suggested improvement requests through the Call Centre and electronic channels, which reflects a 7% drop compared to the same period in the previous two years.

“These complaints and suggested improvements focused mainly on transportation services. 51% of complaints and suggested improvements were related to the use of buses and taxis, and 8% were related to parking services highlighted by requests for exemption from parking violations; 24% of requests were related to the infrastructure, and 4% of the services were related to the use of the nol card. Other complaints and suggested improvements were related to improvements of other RTA services.

“RTA always seeks to develop channels of communication with customers and speed up the response time; 98% of complaints and suggested improvements were signed off within the specified period i.e. 5 working days for complaints and comments, and 15 working days for suggested improvements.