The UAE's decision to introduce the advanced E-dirham in government transactions has increased federal revenue and curbed embezzlement of public funds, the Finance and Industry Ministry said yesterday.
The use of the E-dirham, dubbed by the Ministry as a "smart card", was confined to a few governemnt offices when it was enforced in 2001 but such dealings surged by nearly 279 per cent in 2002, said Khaled Al Bostani, the Ministry's Assistant Undersecretary for Revenue and Budget Affairs.
In 2003, dealings within that system were expected to have jumped by at least 480 per cent to account for more than 80 per cent of the federal services fees.
"There are many positive results of the introduction of the E-diham, mainly the cancellation of the traditional fee collection system and the enforcement of a very advanced system," he said after signing an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank for issuing E-dirham bank guarantees for workers.
"The enforcement of this system has tightened control on government fees, developed federal revenues and faciliated services to the public...practices involving stealing and embezzling public funds have also disappeared."
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