From now onwards, all Traffic Police services will be accessed online at no cost.
Supt. Jean Marie Ndushabandi, the spokesperson of traffic and road safety department, says Irembo platform will save time and costs incurred by the public while accessing services.
In particular, services such as registering for driving tests or exams, which is done via an SMS platform is costly, unalienable and not user-friendly.
With the new online system, through www.irembo.gov.rw, which went live in July 2015, a user will register, then track the process right form acceptance of their request, which comes with a code assigned to them, until they receive their permit, if they pass the exams or test.
Jean Paul Habumugisha, runs a driving school. He registers his students, but his challenge has always been the failure to receive feedback and to know if there was an error and the cause of the error.
He repeats the process until he gets it right. There is a fee to every trial.
“There is at times when you would register a client and you don’t get a request or you get a response that there was an error in their national identity card number and the money is already gone,” Habumugisha said.
If that matter will be fixed, it will become easy to know where the problem is and begin the process again and also save money.
This system can be accessed on all gadgets connected to the internet, including mobile phones on the short code *909#.
Supt. Ndushabandi said the technology was provided by RwandaOnline Ltd, a firm contracted by the government to establish an integrated public service platform that will exclusively offer Government to Business (G2B) and Government to Citizen (G2C) services in the country.
“The good thing with this program is that people can register…without incurring any cost, accept for the usual processing fee,” Supt. Ndushabandi said.
RwandaOnline has agents across the country to help people register online or via USSD (SMS) for free, as part of the government’s commitment to improve service delivery while also creating a better environment for the business community.
“We are moving towards our vision of becoming an information-rich and knowledge-based economy and society, and an ICT hub in the region,” the minister of Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsegimana said.
The goal of RwandaOnline is to ensure all government services can easily be accessed online at no cost, except for the processing fee.
“We want to ensure government services are delivered easily, faster and less costly,” said Sylvere Kubwineza, a project manager from RwandaOnline platform Ltd.
Traffic Police services joins a few more institutions using the platform. Other services already on the platform include applying for a birth certificate, a criminal record clearance certificate, and a trading license.