Gulf News has reported a few days ago that RTA Taxi passengers will be able to pay their fares using their Nol, credit cards and phones. By April 2014, it is expected that over 1,000 taxis in Dubai will offer this payment service; while the remainder of the Dubai Taxi fleet is to be equipped with this service by mid-2015. Surcharges of using Nol cards will be AED 1, and that of using a credit card will be AED 2.
Having visited New York City a number of times myself, and making use of a similar service there, I truly think its brilliant to have it offered here in the City of Life. I only hope that RTA finds a way to reconsider the imposition of the surcharge though I understand that it may be actually imposed by the payment solutions provider, and not RTA.
Carrying cash (and losing it) is a huge inconvenience and that is why cities like New York encourage the use of cards as an alternative and secure form of payment. Having a surcharge on using the card will certainly slow down the roll-out phase as well due to the reduced growth in demand of using this service as compared to if there was no surcharge imposed. Perhaps RTA can also consider introducing incentives such as a discount on the fare if removing the surcharge is very difficult.
In all cases, this new payment solution is definitely a great one and I personally see the strong advantage of using it especially at embarrassing situations of running short of cash in your wallet. I do hope that other emirates will also follow suit shortly in the introduction of this service.
 |
| Image Source: Gulfnews.com |
Having visited New York City a number of times myself, and making use of a similar service there, I truly think its brilliant to have it offered here in the City of Life. I only hope that RTA finds a way to reconsider the imposition of the surcharge though I understand that it may be actually imposed by the payment solutions provider, and not RTA.
Carrying cash (and losing it) is a huge inconvenience and that is why cities like New York encourage the use of cards as an alternative and secure form of payment. Having a surcharge on using the card will certainly slow down the roll-out phase as well due to the reduced growth in demand of using this service as compared to if there was no surcharge imposed. Perhaps RTA can also consider introducing incentives such as a discount on the fare if removing the surcharge is very difficult.
In all cases, this new payment solution is definitely a great one and I personally see the strong advantage of using it especially at embarrassing situations of running short of cash in your wallet. I do hope that other emirates will also follow suit shortly in the introduction of this service.
No comments:
Post a Comment