Abu Dhabi: 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 on Wednesday.
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.
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.
16 services covered under ‘mobile’ initiative
- 1. Repairing and replacing car tyres
- 2. Cleaning and polishing cars
- 3. Retail sale of dry batteries
- 4. Building facility services (maintenance of sanitation installations, A/C, electric and plumbing services etc.)
- 5. Repairing electronic home appliances
- 6. Men’s hairdressing
- 7. Women’s hairdressing
- 8. Children’s hairdressing
- 9. Sewing Arab men’s clothes
- 10. Sewing Arab women’s clothes
- 11. Sale of readymade dresses for children
- 12. Gift wrapping
- 13. Delivering/ decorating flowers
- 14. Photography services
- 15. Pets salon
- 16. Retail sale of fodder
