Recent statistics announced by Dubai eGovernment reveal that there has been a 60 per cent increase in amounts collected through Dubai eGovernment’s ePay payment gateway in the first half of 2010, compared to the corresponding period last year. ePay enables customers to electronically pay their bills and settle dues for various government services, in a safe and secure manner.

During the first six months of 2010, a total of AED 1.1 billion – through 835,000 transactions – was collected through ePay on behalf of all the participating Dubai government departments. During the corresponding period last year, a total of AED 700 million was collected through 712,000 transactions, reflecting an increase of AED 400 million, even though the number of government departments involved remained fixed at 22 during the two periods. The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Dubai Customs were the top three departments respectively in terms of the number of transactions achieved.

Ahmed Bin Humaidan, Director General of Dubai eGovernment said: “These results clearly indicate the favourable pace of eTransformation in Dubai and also reflect both the increasing adoption of ePay as a preferred mode of payment to complete government transactions and the trust shown by customers with regards to the efficiency and safety of ePay, despite the ramifications of the global financial crisis”.

“This service allows both corporate and individual customers to complete ePayment for government services in three ways - credit cards, e-dirham and direct debit from the customer’s account in participating banks. It is worth noting that the use of the direct debit option grew from 13,000 transactions in the first half of 2009 to 23,000 transactions in the same period this year”, he added.

“All government departments need certain electronic frameworks and infrastructures to offer electronic services that are reliable, secure and of high quality, if they intend to maximise the use of their innovative service channels by customers. In line with this, Dubai eGovernment strives to offer the required infrastructure and support in the form of eServices to enable various government departments to offer a range of electronic services to the public and facilitate creativity and excellence in specific areas”, concluded Bin Humaidan.    

Bin Humaidan pointed out that ePay is part of Dubai eGovernment’s initiative to offer government eServices through innovative channels and to present the public and the business community a secure, cost and time-efficient mechanism to pay their bills and dues to various government departments without the need to personally visit banks or the departments concerned. He also noted that Dubai eGovernment provides ePay services through many channels including the Internet, touch screens, interactive voice response systems and mPay, which has been designed as an emergency service, particularly for urgent processes.