Dubai: Motorists will soon be able to pay the fees in paid parking zones by simply sending an SMS.
"We are all set to launch the mParking service in September, providing more options to motorists to pay the fees in paid parking zones in Dubai," Najeeb Al Zarouni, Director of the Parking Department at the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), told Gulf News.
He said motorists would no longer have to carry coins or rush back to their cars from their appointments or offices to renew their parking tickets.
"A dedicated SMS number will be announced soon to pay for parking," he said. The money will be deducted from the mobile phone's credit.
Al Zarouni said the mPark project took some time to be finalised because the authorities wanted to make it very simple.
"We are going to write the number of each parking slot in paid parking zones across the city to make it easy for motorists to use the mPark service," he said.
Slots to be numbered
Every parking space will be numbered starting from one. Dubai will have about 74,000 paid parking spaces by the end of this year.
A motorist will just send the parking slot number via SMS and he will be issued an electronic ticket through SMS from the system.
He will be sent a reminder about 10 minutes before his parking ticket expires. He will have the option to renew it by sending another SMS and need not rush back to put coins in the meter. There will be a grace period of 10 minutes after the ticket expires.
Parking controllers will be able to see from their PDAs whether a motorist has paid the fee before issuing a fine.
"Our aim is to provide multiple options to people to pay for parking their vehicles and make it easier for them to use the service," said Al Zarouni.
Options: Seasonal card is cheaper
There are various options to pay for parking in paid parking zones.
In addition to using coins, a motorist can also use various types of pre-paid cards and seasonal cards.
There are mainly two types of pre-paid parking cards. One type is for a shorter period and is available in denominations of Dh30, Dh50 and Dh100. A motorist can use these cards instead of coins at parking meters to get parking tickets for short-term parking.
A motorist can save money by using these cards because a card worth Dh100 is available for Dh85. Dh50 cards are sold for Dh43 and a Dh30 card can be obtained for Dh26.
The second type of payment is seasonal cards which are available for three, six and 12 months ranging from Dh450 to Dh2,500.
A motorist must fix these cards to the windscreen and they can be used to park cars round-the-clock without getting tickets from parking meters. Cards in Category A can be used to park cars all over Dubai and cost Dh700 for three months, Dh1,300 for six months and Dh2,500 for one year.
Cards in category B can be used only in large parking lots and cost Dh450 for three months, Dh800 for six months and Dh1,500 for one year.
Have your say
Would you like to pay for your parking space through SMS? Do you think this move will reduce the parking problems faced by residents in Dubai?
