In December of 2021 AD, the Saudi Council of Ministers approved the Evidence System, which is a qualitative leap in Saudi systems, and it is one of the four legislative projects announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in February 2021 to upgrade the judicial system.
The evidentiary system included a chapter on proof by digital evidence, which makes camera photography and audio recording evidence to be taken in the courts after it was just a presumption that the judge might reject for one reason or another or even refuse to pay attention to.
The strange thing is that with the spread of passenger delivery applications, which made it possible for anyone who owns a vehicle to work in connecting people for fares, and with the increasing dependence of many people on these applications for daily transportation, a system has not yet been applied that obliges vehicle owners to install cameras in the interior cabin that record with sound. And the image is everything that happens during the trip, so that it is possible to return to the record in the event of any dispute, felony, or even a dispute inside the vehicle, which would preserve the passenger’s right and before him the right of the vehicle driver with conclusive evidence of doubt.
In 2019 AD, some Saudi newspapers circulated news about a regulation that was described as new at the time to regulate the activity of taxis through smart applications from the Public Transport Authority. It was said at the time that it obliges drivers to install five surveillance cameras, distributed in several directions in the car, but none of this happened on the ground, according to my observations. Personal, at least, and I do not know what are the reasons that prevented the release of this regulation or the postponement of its implementation throughout about 4 years of circulating this news.
Regardless of the reasons that delayed implementation, what matters to us now is to activate that regulation, if it has already been issued, with full linkage between the camera system and the competent security authorities. We are in a technologically advanced country in the world, not just the region, and millions of people visit our country annually and from every This is why it is not appropriate for some technologically backward countries with weak economic capabilities to precede us in applying such a system that will serve people and preserve their rights, and will even help companies operating in this field to evaluate drivers’ performance and improve customer experience.
Also, this system, if applied properly, will limit the phenomenon of commercial concealment in this field, represented by the dependence of some vehicle owners on foreign drivers of irregular employment to carry out the trips for them, and other violating practices that are easy to eliminate completely through strict control and the application of penalties. .
Hani Al Dhaheri
