Ministry to reform typing centres

DUBAI // The Ministry of Labour plans to overhaul the system by which it accepts applications for work permits, trade licences and other items through external typing offices, following reports of abuse including forgery. Five Sharjah-based typing offices were recently barred from providing ministry services, according to Humaid bin Deemas, the ministry's acting director general, after they were caught using forged documents in applications.

Thousands of such offices are connected to a system that enables companies and individuals to submit paperwork and applications directly to the ministry through the typing centres. In a bid to stamp out abuses of the system, the MoL has announced plans to license service centres so such transactions will be offered only through offices that meet standards set out by the ministry. "We do not know when we will complete the project, but [eventually] all the current typing offices will no longer be able to provide our services, and once we feel that the new centres have the capacity to take the load we will block the existing typing offices from the system," Mr bin Deemas said.

The five Sharjah companies were barred from the ministry's "smart form system" after they were found submitting applications on behalf of private companies using fake documents. There are around 5,000 typing offices in the country, according to the Government, which are linked to the smart form system - the software used to electronically process Ministry of Labour transactions. A trade licence, for example, which is acquired and renewed with the economic department, also needs to be registered with the ministry. In the case of the five companies, the original documents were not shown, and forged trade licences were submitted, according to Mr bin Deemas. Some of the firms involved may have been front companies, he said.

"We do not know the type of offence carried out by the typing offices in question, but the smallest offence could be negligence as they did not ask for the original [document]," he said. "It had major repercussions and they might also have been collaborating with these companies." The co-operation between the ministry and the typing offices started in 1999, when the offices began helping customers fill out applications. Today, the offices accept applications on behalf of the ministry, collect ministry fees and fines and provide legal advice.

In recent years, however, some problems have surfaced, including inaccurate data entry and overcharging. Some of these cases have been referred to the public prosecution, Mr bin Deemas said. "The experience of typing offices was suitable for the previous phase, but now there is a need to review this experience as it has developed many problems such as submitting of applications with fake documents and a huge gap in application fees," he said.

The planned service centres will also carry out many of the jobs the ministry currently handles, as well as continue the typing duties. "The new centres will have to meet 23 criteria to acquire the licence, such as providing a convenient location for their centres and having minimum size for the centre," Mr bin Deemas said. The new system is already being applied in Ajman and Umm al Qaiwain, each of which have two such centres. No other typing offices in either emirate have access to the ministry's system, according to Mr bin Deemas.

Under the ministry's proposals, the new centres must be owned and managed by Emiratis, and the plan envisages that eventually only Emirati staff will be employed. The system will also see a standard fee of Dh35 per application charged. The ministry is also setting up a new department that would monitor the centres to assure the quality of the services provided, Mr bin Deemas said. While acknowledging that there have been instances of abuse of the system, some typing office employees defended their business practices, saying that the entire industry should not be penalised for the misconduct of a few companies.

Fazullah Sadeq, the co-owner of a group of nine typing offices in Sharjah and Dubai, including Al Maha, has been in the industry for the last 10 years and said the offices take the ministry's procedures seriously. "Before accepting any application we make sure that the customer provides us with correct documents," he said. He believed it was unfair to blame the industry for the "misuse of power" by a small number of people. Shabir Hussein, an employee of Eidad typing office, who has been working in the field for 13 years, said some people had tried to bribe him into reducing a ministry fine they were due to pay through his company.

"They think that we can do that," he said. "They do not understand that we cannot overstep the system; there is no room to go around the system. I know that there are some in the industry that are careless and do not check the documents carefully, but why should the whole industry be punished for such individual practices?" Mohammed Sayed, an employee at Ammar typing office, said the ministry needed to provide a solution without denying them access to the system.

"Why can they not unify the fees for typing offices and provide training for us to eliminate the problems if there are any?" he asked.
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