JEDDAH, 7 November 2006 — You no longer have to go to the traffic police office to pay traffic fines or perform other traffic-related monetary transactions, such as driving licenses and car registration fees. As of today you perform the transactions by visiting the Riyad Bank or the National Commercial Bank on the Internet, using an ATM or simply making a phone call — even if you don’t have an account with either of the two banks.
The announcement was made yesterday by Col. Muhammad Al-Qahtani, head of Jeddah Traffic Police. He explained that applying for a new car registration for an individual, the only requirement is an ID number — in the case of expatriates, the iqama number. In the case of companies, the commercial registration number is required.
He added that other transactions such as renewal, replacement charges, transfer of ownership and export of vehicles can be performed using a serial number. That number is obtained by sending an SMS message to 88905. In the message you write your license plate number followed by a space then your ID number. A reply will be sent to you containing your serial number and other required information, Al-Qahtani said.
For driving license transactions, all that is needed is your ID number, he added.
To find out if you have any traffic violations, send an SMS message to 88993 with, for individuals, the ID number and for companies, the commercial registration number. You may also dial 01-292-8888.
Al-Qahtani said that the procedures aimed at making things easier for members of the public. The new electronic procedures are part of a larger attempt by the government to develop an electronic government system. The traffic department is currently working on linking insurance companies and the Motor Vehicle Inspection Center with its database in order to reduce time and paper work, he revealed.
