The new PDAs will save 1.5 million sheets of paper every year. The new PDAs will save 1.5 million sheets of paper every year.

Thrifty Car Rental has introduced Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) to enable automated car rental.

The PDAs will replace the manual documentation process currently in use, significantly reducing admin time and meaning customers can experience much faster car rental process.

“This automation is a huge technology leap for Thrifty in the UAE and will significantly enhance our customers’ overall rental experience,” said Rahul Singh, general manager, Thrifty Car Rental.

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“The solution will eliminate the downtime between customers signing vehicle check-in forms and the counter staff keying in data, increase staff productivity and enhance system accuracy.

If a driver in Dubai delivers a vehicle to Ras-Al-Khaimah, as soon as the customer signs the PDA, the data will automatically be reflected on a real time basis across the Thrifty Vehicle Management System, and the information is immediately accessible to any Thrifty staff with the simple click of a button.”

The new software took 12 months to develop. Singh added: “We are leading the way for car rental companies to go digital. By introducing this technology we expect to significantly reduce our costs from untraceable traffic fines and Salik charges.

This eco-friendly solution will reduce paperwork previously generated on a daily basis. Based on our current transaction volumes we estimate we will save approximately 1.5 million sheets of paper annually across the UAE.”