Home> About Us> Press Room> Muscat Municipality is constantly...

Muscat Municipality is constantly improving and upgrading its e-commerce applications. The next on its list is an e-payment system.

Earlier this year, the Muscat Municipality (MM) introduced a query-based application where the public can get online and check the status of parking violations, building permits or even rent contracts. “The Muscat Municipality is one of the oldest governmental bodies in the country. We can also call ourselves the most ‘technologised’,” says Yaqoob al Bulushi, director of Information System Directorate, at MM.

“As a public service, we are trying our best to provide most of our services online. We created the query-based application where people can get online and check the status of various pending works with the municipality. Our online services also work as a forum for the public, where we receive suggestions, complaints and recommendations. These are monitored daily and we respond to each of them individually and immediately,” he added.

With the Directorate of Information System having 31 employees on its roll, al Bulushi says that having all data online makes for easy retrieval. “Our database and everything associated with it are developed in-house. The Internet is only a channel and we try to use it in the best manner possible, adding value to it.”

So while the municipality makes the best use of the medium, it is also in the process of introducing more value-added services like SMS messaging. “ We use the mobile phone technology and SMS as a means of communication. For example, we regularly send messages to the public on the status of their building permits. Instead of employing people to answer the public’s queries, the system can do that – more effectively.”

In the wired world

While public service is one aspect of the municipality’s role, the other is that of being a customer itself. “We have numerous suppliers with whom we interact on a daily basis. All the paperwork is conducted online through the TradaNet exchange. This saves us a lot of time and manpower and reduces the paperwork. You could call it e-commerce with our trade partners,” explains al Bulushi. While the process of getting a quotation offline may take many days, the municipality puts the tender out on its TradaNet website where suppliers and vendors can quote freely. All that the municipality has to do is choose the one that matches its requirements and start the process.

The municipality does not believe in sitting back and resting on its laurels. The systems are constantly enhanced with corrections and modifications done as and when necessary. “ I cannot claim that all this is our idea because the whole world is moving in that direction and we develop as the world grows. But what we do is see what is available and what can be achieved,” says al Bulushi.

On the anvil for MM is the introduction of the e-payment system to complete the cycle online. “What we now have is the query-based application. In the next month or so, we will be introducing a payment system, where the customer can come online, query and pay as well,” he says. Internet cafes and typing outlets will be the municipality’s partners and they will have access to the systems through passwords, etc. “These outlets will be authorized to renew licenses, make registrations, etc for those who do not have access to computers,” says al Bulushi. The municipality is also contemplating to introduce the concept of e-wallet to the general public. Al Bulushi sums it up when he says, “It’s all a matter of making things more convenient for the public.”