Expat cries foul over fine for exiting Dubai bus
Staff Report
DUBAI - An expatriate residing in Dubai’s Al Nahda area complained on Thursday over what he claimed was an “injustice” after he was fined AED2,000 for exiting the bus at a bus stop near his home.
Mohammad Usman said trouble started when the bus reached the bus stop near his home and he "stood up and swiped my NoL card and pressed the button to open the door.”
"Just then, a ticket inspector entered the bus and asked me to show him my identification, because he thought I was trying to exit the bus without paying for the ride. I informed him that I had swiped my card and was exiting. I hadn’t seen him, as he wasn’t in uniform,” Usman said in a letter to Gulf News.
Usman said the inspector led him outside to his car where he checked the expat’s NOL card and later fined him AED2,000 for trying to open the bus door.
"The amount was a lot and I tried to convince him to cancel the fine. I don’t think it was a crime, because the door had only opened half way and I was still inside the bus. But, he didn’t listen to me,” he said.
Usman said he visited the office of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to submit a complaint but was told that the fine was already registered in the system. "Nobody was willing to offer a proper explanation for this fine,” he said.
In a statement, the RTA said an investigation revealed that "the fine is correct”. Citing UAE laws, RTA said operating or using any security means or devices including emergency exits in unnecessary cases is a crime.
The RTA said that while the inspector implemented his routine inspection of the bus, Usman "operated the emergency exit in an unnecessary case, which is prohibited”.
“We had activated this law because recently we monitored many bus users who had opened the emergency doors to escape from the inspector, which led to them being trampled under the wheels of vehicles,” the RTA said.
