Customers wait to register their Sim cards at an Etisalat booth in Dubai. Antonie Robertson / The National
Customers wait to register their Sim cards at an Etisalat booth in Dubai. Antonie Robertson / The National

Deadline day scramble to re-register Sim cards across the UAE



DUBAI// Queues began to build slowly today as mobile customers made a last minute push to register their Sim cards before their phones are blocked.

The deadline applied only to those who had received SMS alerts from du or Etisalat asking them to register as part of the My Number, My Identity campaign.

“We had about 2,000 people come through the centre on Wednesday and we are expecting a similar amount today,” said Homer Mendoza, a retail sales executive at du’s centre in Mall of the Emirates.

“Although every member of staff is helping people with the registration we also have two desks set up solely for this purpose to speed things up.”

Queues began to form before the centre opened for business, he said. There was a lull in numbers late in the morning before more people began to arrive after lunch.

“Today is the last day so we are expecting it to be busy,” he said.

Some customers received an alert only 24 hours before today’s deadline and rushed to register.

“I only found out that I had to register when I got the text on Wednesday,” said Hamad Hassan, from Pakistan.

“I would have done it sooner but I didn’t know I had to.”

Rushabh Shah, from India was helping a friend to sign up. “Luckily we came at the right time so it will only take 20 minutes,” he said.

Although his colleague had not received an SMS he was worried his phone would be blocked if he did not register by Thursday.

Queues at the mall’s Etisalat outlet were longer, with separate queues for men and women each around 20 people deep.

Staff were asking people to queue only if they had received a text alert.

“Although people who have not been sent the SMS are being registered, we are advising them there’s no rush and they don’t need to register today,” said a member of staff.

“This way the wait is not as long for those who need to get it done today.”

The Sim registration campaign was launched by the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority last year to crack down on the fraudulent use of Sim cards.

People who received an SMS asking them to sign up but have not done so will have their phones initially blocked from making calls and sending text messages.

Handsets will be completely blocked in three months if they have still failed to register. However, phones will be unblocked almost immediately once Sim cards have been registered.

The next batch of subscribers will be contacted via SMS by du and Etisalat to register. They have three months to do so.

The process requires customers to fill in an application form and present a valid passport, residency visa or Emirates or GCC identity card.

Subscribers who have not received text alerts can also register by following the same procedure.

For more details, visit www.etisalat.ae or www.du.ae

nhanif@thenational.ae

Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:

- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools

- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say

- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance

- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs

- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills

- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month

- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues

Results

6.30pm Madjani Stakes Rated Conditions (PA) I Dh160,000 1,900m I Winner: Mawahib, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)

7.05pm Maiden Dh150,000 1,400m I Winner One Season, Antonio Fresu, Satish Seemar

7.40pm: Maiden Dh150,000 2,000m I Winner Street Of Dreams, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson

8.15pm Dubai Creek Listed Dh250,000 1,600m I Winner Heavy Metal, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer

8.50pm The Entisar Listed Dh250,000 2,000m I Winner Etijaah, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson

9.25pm The Garhoud Listed Dh250,000 1,200m Winner Muarrab, Dane O’Neill, Ali Rashid Al Raihe

10pm Handicap Dh160,000 1,600m Winner Sea Skimmer, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi


The UAE Today

The latest news and analysis from the Emirates

      By signing up, I agree to The National's privacy policy
      The UAE Today