ABU DHABI: Emirates Identity Authority (Eida) revealed that it had sent more than 18 million SMSes to its clients in 22 months, among which 12 million messages were sent during 2012, most of them including notifications related to ID card transactions.

Aisha Al Raeisi, manager of central operations at Eida, said the total number of SMSes sent to clients’ mobile phones in both Arabic and English, were up 97 per cent during 2012 as compared to 2011.

This number did not include SMSes sent to clients by Emirates Post notifying them to pick up their IDs when ready.

The rise in SMSes sent by the Authority during last year resulted in more than 6,244,000 ID card transactions (new and renewal) to citizens and expats during 2012, as compared to 2,799,000 transaction in 2011, up by more than 123 per cent — the highest number of ID issuance transactions achieved by the Authority since the gradual launch of the registration processes in mid-2005.

She clarified that the SMS service aims to notify the customers when the expiry date for the ID card is near, about the need to modify the application, of the date of their visit to the Authority’s centre to complete the registration process, or to inform them that the ID card has been printed and delivered to Emirates Post, This besides greeting SMSes sent on official and national occasions.

Al Raeisi urged the customers to communicate with the Authority through 12 interactive communication channels provided to answer customer enquiries and solve their complaints. These include the Authority’s website, the call centre and the SMS service (2020).

In addition to social networking websites, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the application status can be enquired at Emirates Post in addition to the ID registration centres spread across the country, she said.

Al Raeisi pointed out that the Authority aims to further simplify government services and facilitate the transactions, in line with its keenness to effectively contribute to achieving the “UAE vision 2021”.