UAE authorities have warned holders of the national identity card against handing it over to car rent firms or any other party, saying this must not be done without a court order, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Dubai-based 'Emarat Al Youm' Arabic language daily said it had been flooded by public queries on whether car rent companies and other firms are authorized to keep the ID card of their clients as a guarantee.
It quoted a statement by the Emirates Identity Authority (Eida), which oversees the ID project, as saying that the card must be kept with its owner all the time and must not be left with any party in line with relevant federal laws.
“The card holder is not authorised to mortgage or leave the card with any party without an order by a specialised court….there are rules governing the use of this card and we expect all to strictly respect them,” Eida said.
“We stress again that card holders must always keep the card with them and must not tamper or modify the contents of their cards…all card owners should by no means mortgage their cards with any firm or party without a court order. ”The statement also said holders who need to change data in their cards must inform registration centres within a month.
In case of loss, card owners should notify those centres within a week from the date of its loss.
“But they must give a statement affirming that the card is not mortgaged or seized by any party,” it added.