A large scale failure of the mParking system in Dubai over the last two days has left motorists disgruntled, even as the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) blames the problem on telecom operators.
Dozens of motorists were slapped with fines by RTA inspectors even as they were struggling to pay through the mParking system.
“I tried to pay through mParking system several times and it didn’t work. I got a message from RTA that the mPark system was unable to process my parking request. So, I grabbed the some coins and rushed out to pay through the parking machine and when I reached my car a parking inspector was already there issuing a fine for not paying the parking fee,” said a motorist on condition of anonymity.
She added that she tried to explain the problem to the inspector and also showed him the messages she sent through the mParking system and also the message she received from RTA.
“It took me just two minutes to reach my car but by then the parking inspector was already there. I showed him the messages on my phone and I pleaded with him to excuse me but he wouldn’t listen. I think it’s unfair to issue fines when the system is down and when there is evidence that a person tried to pay through mParking,” she added.
Another motorist, who also received a fine, said that he tried several times to pay through mParking throughout the day but it didn’t work.
“Sometimes, when your car is parked far away, it’s not possible to go out and pay through the machine every hour. At times, you might be in a meeting or caught up with something and you are late by a couple of minutes and the inspectors issue fines, which is obviously unfair,” said another angry motorist.
RTA’s Director of Parking Adel Al Marzouqi blamed the issue on a telecom glitch.
“There was an mParking outage due to too many messages. This problem is related to SMS technology and telecom operators face the issue when the lines are jammed. We have had these problems before as well and we are working to improve the situation,” said Al Marzouqi.
He said that those who received fines due to the outage can call RTA call centre at 8009090 and make a complaint and if their problems are genuine than the fines will be cancelled.
Al Marzouqi added that the new Smart Parking application was launched recently on various smartphone platforms to help people with the SMS- related glitches.
“We have six different ways of paying for parking now and the last system we launched last week is the Smart Parking system which works independent of the SMS system. The payment is made through debit or credit cards and there is no link to the SMS system and it also saves people the 30 fils charged as transaction fee for mParking,” he said.
Smart Parking is part of a series of mobile applications launched by RTA last week and the system can be used by any motorist irrespective of which emirate the car is registered in.
At least one motorist on Sunday evening told Gulf News that RTA cancelled her parking fine issued during the outage on Saturday, following a complaint.
Modes of payment
There are six modes of payment for parking in Dubai:
Coin - The simple old-fashioned way of paying for parking through payment machines.
Prepaid card - The earliest smart prepaid card which is still available for purchase at supermarkets and grocery stores. The cards are available in denominations of Dh30 and Dh100. Balance from the card is deducted when the card is inserted into the card slot at the paid parkig machine.
Seasonal parking cards - Divided into Card A and Card B, seasonal parking cards are available in different values and periods of validity.
mParking - A parking system involves sending SMS in a set pattern to 7275. The system, launched around eight years ago, revolutionised payment for parking as it saved people the hassle of going out again and again to pay for parking.
Nol Card - Payment for parking can also be made by inserting a Nol card in the card slot of paid parking machines and the parking fee is deducted from the Nol card.
Smart Parking - The latest mode of payment for parking is through the Smart Parking app that was launched last week. The app works on all smartphones and requires motorists to pay through their credit or debit cards.
Source: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/mparking-outage-in-dubai-affects-dozens-of-motorists-1.1387946
