A total of 3,600 companies took advantage of the online visa application facility, involving 7,709 users. The advanced system offers many attractive features to large and small companies, such as saving time and effort. 'The DNRD portal (www.dnrd.ae) provides the most advanced and user-friendly channel for online services. Since its launch four years ago, the number of people using the portal for online visa services has been rising significantly. But for the past three months, we have seen a dramatic increase in online users. This, we believe, is due to the increasing awareness among the people about the advantages of online transactions and our own efforts to encourage people to try online channels,' said Brigadier Saeed Bin Belailah, Director, DNRD.
'The accelerating momentum towards using online services can be attributed to the secure payment system that DNRD has put in place in coordination with the concerned authorities, including the UAE Ministry of Finance and banks,' added Brig. Bin Belailah. 'The portal provides the option of paying by e-Dirham, credit card or direct debit. We have noticed that our corporate users are mainly using the direct debit system because it is quick and fully secure and eliminates the need for cash transactions.'
The DNRD portal delivers several advantages as well as convenience. It allows Net users to download and submit forms. More significantly, users can get a refund online, if the visa is rejected. Further, corporate clients can open accounts through Commercial Bank of Dubai and Emirates Bank.
'It is heartening to see that the initial hesitation in using online services is disappearing and people are beginning to get comfortable with eServices,' added Brig. Bin Belailah. 'The Dubai eGovernment project is thus set to gain a boost with an increasing number of people opting to avail of public services electronically, helping the authorities to push ahead with its ambitious drive to turn Dubai into a Knowledge hub.'
'For DNRD, the achievements of the past three months indicate that our efforts to promote an online culture are yielding fruit. As the world moves towards paperless transactions in all spheres of life, it is important for immigration authorities and airport managements to introduce electronic processes,' said Brig. Bin Belailah. 'We have been trying to achieve this through our portal and we are proud to say that we have achieved remarkable success within a very short time.'
Autor: Anne-Birte Stensgaard
Quelle: AME Info, 27.03.2005
