Dr. Eng. Ali Mohamed Al Khouri, Emirates ID Director General, indicated that the registration and renewal rates for identity cards have increased to 23,000-25,000 ID cards per day and the number is expected to rise gradually over the coming days.
Dr. Al Khouri asserted that the recent significant rise in the registration processes is attributed to the issuance of the Ministerial Decree with regard to fees of services provided by EIDA, which came into force at the end of last September. The decree included the imposition of late fees and helped EIDA administration accelerate the registration pace in addition to linking the residency procedures and “identity” in some emirates.
Fines are imposed on citizens who have not registered or do not have ID cards issued yet and on residents who have not renewed expired ID cards. Fines were imposed starting from 1stNovember 2011. Dr. Al Khouri indicated that the rates of fines collected by EIDA during the last period since their imposition until now are very low and almost insignificant, especially in light of facilitating the registration and renewal procedures of expired ID cards, which led to full compliance of EIDA customers with the timeframe they are given to register or renew their ID cards. This led to very few delays in registration and renewal.
Dr. Al Khouri added that the mandatory use of ID cards is proceeding according to the strategic plan of EIDA and in execution of the population register and identity card law to be the only proof of identity in the country.
He explained that as first stage, it has been used in some services such as the traffic and licensing services indicating that by time, people will realize that the ID card provides more services than being merely a “plastic” card.
He added that in addition to the current entities that require the provision of the ID card by those who wish to obtain their services, such as the Executive Councils of Dubai and Ajman and the traffic and licensing services across the country, EIDA addressed the executive councils across the country, the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, Federal Authority for Government Human Resources and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates to require the use of the ID card.
He indicated that the ID card at the time being will be a temporary reference along with other cards applicable in the country as a transitional stage until all people, citizens and residents, are registered according toa previously set program before the application of late fees for non-registration. He added that during the transitional stage, the ID card will be used along the passport and family book for citizens and for residents the ID card will be used along the passport and residency visa.
Source – Al Bayan Newspaper / Mamdouh Abdel Hamid
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