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A total of Dh1.2 million in cash, 12,410 mobile phones, 2,819 electronic devices, 766 passports, and 342 laptops: These were among the items that were forgotten by passengers in taxis in the first six months of 2022.
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) call centre received 44,062 reports of items lost in taxis in the six months.
In July, the RTA honoured Nancy Orgo from the Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC) after she handed over a bag containing Dh1 million left behind in her cab by a passenger.
“The 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,” said Mehailah Alzehmi, director of Customers Happiness, Corporate Administrative Support Services Sector.
This came as the RTA revealed that its call centre (8009090) received 951,492 calls during the first half of 2022.
“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,” said Alzehmi.
Residents’ dependency on the call centre for certain services has dropped. This includes public transport journey planning and parking, which registered a 20 per cent drop in 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 per cent over the level reported during the first half of last year,” added Alzehmi.
The RTA is 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 understand the needs of customers and gauge their satisfaction with the services provided,” explained Alzehmi.
In the first six months of the year, the RTA received 49,353 complaints and suggested improvement requests.
“These complaints and suggested improvements focused mainly on transportation services. About 51 per cent of complaints and suggested improvements were related to the use of buses and taxis, and 8 per cent to parking services, highlighted by requests for exemption from parking violations. About 24 per cent of requests were related to the infrastructure, and 4 per cent to the use of the nol card,” said Alzehmi.
About 98 per cent of complaints and suggested improvements were signed off within the specified period — five working days for complaints and comments, and 15 for suggested improvements.
In the first half of this year, the RTA received 5,724 emergency reports. The instant response and sign-off rate clocked 99 per cent.
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