# RTA BUS FINES - have you experienced?



## vivaciouswacky

Guys,

Let me know if any of you have faced a similar situation? If so what was the response from RTA?

I was traveling by Bus, route number F43 from Discovery gardens stop number 7 to China court (Ibn Battuta mall) today (24-April-2013) at 8:00 AM. Hardly few meters from the bus stop, I swiped my NOL for check out and was patiently getting ready to get down from the bus. Please be aware, there was less than 40-50 seconds to the bus stop. Meanwhile an RTA officer stopped the bus for ticket checking (before the bus stop and after I swiped for check-out) and entered from the front door and I was still waiting near the rear door to get down. By the time the officer could come back to check my card it was already past 10 minutes because the bus was crowded.

The officer slapped a fine on me for AED 210 and the reason he gave was 'you swiped the card 10 minutes back' and it is OK if it was 2 or 3 minutes back. I tried my best to explain to the officer that , the delay was only because the bus was stopped and you were checking every passenger for tickets, otherwise it would not have even taken a minute to get down.

The officer was unwilling to talk to me, though I was very patient. He was not ready to even tell me when exactly to swipe the card when I was trying to find out from him so that the same doesn't happen next time. He simply asked me to talk to the RTA and he doesn't have time.

I have sent out an e-mail to RTA attaching my fine slip. They said they will get back to me.


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## Jumeirah Jim

I'm not very well placed to advise you as in over 5 years in the UAE I caught my first bus this week. This was in Abu Dhabi. AED 2 fixed fares here wherever you go. I had to coins so offered the driver a AED 10 note. He pointed at the "honesty" box on the dash by the doors and said no change. When he realised I had no coins he said no problem, don't worry about the fare 

Obviously I wasn't overjoyed at saving AED 2 but I was completely overjoyed at the driver's common sense approach. With hindsight I wish I'd given him the AED 10 as a tip. It was one of those SO RARE occasions here when someone behaving with some common sense left me shocked. 

And the bus was nicely chilled, new, tinted windows and v v clean. I might become a bus convert after this experience. Very very impressed even though I only travelled for 5 minutes.


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## Totalloss

vivaciouswacky said:


> Guys,
> 
> Let me know if any of you have faced a similar situation? If so what was the response from RTA?
> 
> I was traveling by Bus, route number F43 from Discovery gardens stop number 7 to China court (Ibn Battuta mall) today (24-April-2013) at 8:00 AM. Hardly few meters from the bus stop, I swiped my NOL for check out and was patiently getting ready to get down from the bus. Please be aware, there was less than 40-50 seconds to the bus stop. Meanwhile an RTA officer stopped the bus for ticket checking (before the bus stop and after I swiped for check-out) and entered from the front door and I was still waiting near the rear door to get down. By the time the officer could come back to check my card it was already past 10 minutes because the bus was crowded.
> 
> The officer slapped a fine on me for AED 210 and the reason he gave was 'you swiped the card 10 minutes back' and it is OK if it was 2 or 3 minutes back. I tried my best to explain to the officer that , the delay was only because the bus was stopped and you were checking every passenger for tickets, otherwise it would not have even taken a minute to get down.
> 
> The officer was unwilling to talk to me, though I was very patient. He was not ready to even tell me when exactly to swipe the card when I was trying to find out from him so that the same doesn't happen next time. He simply asked me to talk to the RTA and he doesn't have time.
> 
> I have sent out an e-mail to RTA attaching my fine slip. They said they will get back to me.


That's a strange experience. Thanks for highlighting this though. I take the bus everyday to work and I will be careful to swipe the card just before stepping out. I hope you don't have to pay the fine.


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## vivaciouswacky

I did end up paying fine on the spot. But have taken this up with the RTA. lets see if they can help!


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## fcjb1970

vivaciouswacky said:


> I did end up paying fine on the spot. But have taken this up with the RTA. lets see if they can help!


I am not sure I understand why you would have paid on the spot. Surely, you could have said you don't have the money. It is always going to be easier to get them to waive the fine than to get a refund. Good luck


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## Fat Bhoy Tim

Erm, don't pay?


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## vivaciouswacky

I was getting really late for my driving class. My instructor kept calling me without a break. The inspector was hell bent on calling a cop, if I wasn't ready to pay. Not that I was scared of the cop, but I was running really late.


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## June.81

Hi *vivaciouswacky*,

Ive experienced the same incident 2 hours back.. im in deep pain. he got my Emirates ID card asking me to pay fine AED 210/- and get back my card.. Spoke to customer care, asked me to write a mail to [email protected], Jz writing to them. Hope something positively turns out..


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## vivaciouswacky

Welcome to the world of RTA fines mate !! On sending all the details to RTA, they will get back to you in 20 days, saying 'the fine is as expected' and thank you. Once you re-open the complaint, they will again ask you to send all the details and it will just go on. 

Just leave it and don't worry much about it.


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## indoMLA

fcjb1970 said:


> I am not sure I understand why you would have paid on the spot. Surely, you could have said you don't have the money. It is always going to be easier to get them to waive the fine than to get a refund. Good luck


The Fvcktards at the RTA do that. I had to pay a fine on the spot in BurDubai (if I recall) a while back. The RTA guy approaches me like he was an official and asks to *see *my license, I show it to him, and then he starts to walk off. I go after him and he claims I broke some law/rule and that I had to pay 200dhs on the spot. Wasn't going to let him keep my license so I pay it. My letters and conversations to the RTA went with no assistance. Some help the RTA is....

Note to self now.... don't let anyone have my license, ID, passport.... if they want to call the cops then do that. If the cop says I should give them the ID or license, then fine, but if they want my passport, then talk to the US Embassy, the passport is US property, get it from the owners.


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## Stevesolar

indoMLA said:


> The Fvcktards at the RTA do that. I had to pay a fine on the spot in BurDubai (if I recall) a while back. The RTA guy approaches me like he was an official and asks to *see *my license, I show it to him, and then he starts to walk off. I go after him and he claims I broke some law/rule and that I had to pay 200dhs on the spot. Wasn't going to let him keep my license so I pay it. My letters and conversations to the RTA went with no assistance. Some help the RTA is....
> 
> Note to self now.... don't let anyone have my license, ID, passport.... if they want to call the cops then do that. If the cop says I should give them the ID or license, then fine, but if they want my passport, then talk to the US Embassy, the passport is US property, get it from the owners.


Whilst it sounds good in theory - to not show an RTA official your documents, the reality is that you would be opening yourself up to a whole world of pain and hassle if they called the police.
The police would almost certainly side with the RTA official and would also be looking to check whether they could find something else to fine/arrest you for.
Worth checking the RTA terms of carriage - as i am sure infringements and id procedures will be covered in there.
Cheers
Steve


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## June.81

So, finally u have to pay the amount to get ur card back?

Never expected


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## Jynxgirl

Moral of the story.... Dont take the bus or any form of public transport where someone with a peanut salary is given a big stick to give out a quarter of his salary in tickets at the drop of the dime to unsuspecting individuals that they can plus anything at all on......


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## pallab28

*[QUOTE="vivaciouswacky, post: 1141509, member: 159934"]Guys,*

hi all
i also had same issue.i was travelling in routef22.i swiped just when the bus was about to stop.the conductor entered from front.we were at back.by the time he came it was more than 6 minutes.he fined all 7 passengers standing at the back...this is just cheating...

pallab




vivaciouswacky said:


> Guys,
> 
> Let me know if any of you have faced a similar situation? If so what was the response from RTA?
> 
> I was traveling by Bus, route number F43 from Discovery gardens stop number 7 to China court (Ibn Battuta mall) today (24-April-2013) at 8:00 AM. Hardly few meters from the bus stop, I swiped my NOL for check out and was patiently getting ready to get down from the bus. Please be aware, there was less than 40-50 seconds to the bus stop. Meanwhile an RTA officer stopped the bus for ticket checking (before the bus stop and after I swiped for check-out) and entered from the front door and I was still waiting near the rear door to get down. By the time the officer could come back to check my card it was already past 10 minutes because the bus was crowded.
> 
> The officer slapped a fine on me for AED 210 and the reason he gave was 'you swiped the card 10 minutes back' and it is OK if it was 2 or 3 minutes back. I tried my best to explain to the officer that , the delay was only because the bus was stopped and you were checking every passenger for tickets, otherwise it would not have even taken a minute to get down.
> 
> The officer was unwilling to talk to me, though I was very patient. He was not ready to even tell me when exactly to swipe the card when I was trying to find out from him so that the same doesn't happen next time. He simply asked me to talk to the RTA and he doesn't have time.
> 
> I have sent out an e-mail to RTA attaching my fine slip. They said they will get back to me.


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