Motorists given ID card reprieve by officials

The Emirates Identity Authority has agreed “in principal” to allow motorists in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Sharjah to register their vehicles without an ID card, it has been reported.

Officials announced the move in a bid to stem huge queues of people gathering at ID application centres last week, local daily Al Ittihad reports on Monday.

Last week the official news agency WAM reported the Ministry of Interior had ruled ID cards were required to access any traffic and licensing services throughout the country starting from May 2.

Abdul Aziz al-Sultan Ma'amari director of public relations and coordination in the Emirates Identity Authority, told the newspaper it had been agreed “in principal”.

He said passports could still be used to register vehicles until the launch of a new electronic ID registration form next week that will speed up the application process.

Last week, the Khaleej Times reported it was that the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai said the card was not compulsory for registration of vehicles, or other transport-related transactions.

As many as 1.8 million people have so far registered with the system out of a total of five million people being targeted.