Gulf News

Where vital services come to your doorstep

With mobile facilities approved in Abu Dhabi, help is just a call away

- BY BINSAL ABDUL KADER Senior Reporter

Next time when your car gets a flat tyre in Abu Dhabi, the assistance will be just a phone call away!

Abu Dhabi Government has started issuing licences to mobile cars offering 16 vital services, including repairing and replacing car tyres, cleaning and polishing cars, retail sale of dry batteries, building facility services, repairing electronic home appliances, etc.

Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Developmen­t said it selected 16 services in the initial stage based on a consumer survey and more services may be added in future. The department has not regulated the prices for the services.

Services for women, such as sewing clothes and hairdressi­ng are also on offer, but only women employees are allowed in those mobile cars.

Abu Dhabi residents can get 16 vital services at their doorsteps thanks to a new government initiative to offer fast and efficient services.

Mobile teams will now offer services including repair and replacemen­t of car tyres, cleaning and polishing of cars, retail sale of dry batteries, building facility services and repair of electronic home appliances etc.

The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Developmen­t (ADDED) announced the launch of licences for ‘mobile cars’ for the 16 services at a press conference yesterday.

Although the licences will be issued to Emiratis only, expatriate­s can be employed in the cars, with a limit of two persons per car, officials said. The 16 services were selected based on a survey that assessed the high demand for the services from customers in the emirate. More services may be added in future.

The owners are free to determine the prices of services subject to competitio­n in the market and ADDED has not placed any restrictio­ns in this regard.

However, if customers have any complaints about the services, they can approach the Consumer Protection Department of ADDED.

The department has already started issuing the licences. Four mobile teams offering tyre repairs, building facility services, car washing and detailing services, and pet salon services were displayed outside the ADDED office.

Only women employees are allowed to cater to services meant for women such as sewing women’s clothes or hair dressing requests from women.

The initiative aims to encourage entreprene­urship among Emiratis and to make more services available at the convenienc­e of residents, according to Khalifa Bin Salem Al Mansouri, acting undersecre­tary of ADDED. It is part of the ‘Tajer Abu Dhabi’ initiative that gives certain exemptions on legal requiremen­ts to start a business, he said.

The licence is issued electronic­ally through the ADDED website or Abu Dhabi Business Centre’s (ADBC) mobile applicatio­n. ADBC is the central contact point between the investors and the government entities, offering a single window to get all the required services related to commercial licences.

“We are keen to encourage Emiratis to enter the business sector by taking advantage of these initiative­s that do not demand substantia­l capital but offer simple and easy procedures, Al Mansouri said.

Mohammad Munif Al Mansouri, acting CEO of Abu Dhabi Business Centre, said the department has put certain standards in place for the mobile service licences.

Mandatory informatio­n

Mohammad Ali Marar, director of the trade licences department at ADDED, said the exterior of the mobile service vehicles have to be designed as per standards set by the department. The cars have to prominentl­y display mandatory informatio­n such as permit number and contact number to register customer complaints etc., he said.

 ?? Ahmed Kutty/Gulf News ?? A vehicle offering domestic services on display outside the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Developmen­t.
Ahmed Kutty/Gulf News A vehicle offering domestic services on display outside the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Developmen­t.
 ?? Ahmed Kutty/Gulf News ?? Four mobile vehicles offering tyre repairs, building facility services, car washing and detailing, and pet salon services were displayed outside the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Developmen­t office.
Ahmed Kutty/Gulf News Four mobile vehicles offering tyre repairs, building facility services, car washing and detailing, and pet salon services were displayed outside the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Developmen­t office.
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