ECall system in the United Arab Emirates
In the UAE, a technical regulation on an emergency communication system for vehicles (ECall) was adopted in April 2018. Recently, ESMA published a circular regarding the topic, providing some guidance on the implementation of the new regulation.
The system is designed to automatically detect collisions between vehicles and then use the driver’s mobile phone connection to automatically place an emergency call with GPS position, time and number plate and establish a telephone connection to the nearest emergency call center.
With the implementation, the UAE followed the eCall (emergency call) emergency call system for light vehicles that has been mandatory in the EU since 2018.
The requirements for the UAE ECall system are based on the UAE.S 5019: 2018 standard (which in turn is based on the EU regulation EU 2017/79) and relate to new vehicle models from 2021. The requirements only apply to light vehicles under 3.5 tons with up to 9 seats. There is also an exception for small series vehicles with less than 75 units per year.
ECall certification can be acquired by submitting an online type approval application on the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) website. To receive TRA type approval, in addition to the requirements from UAE.S 5019: 2018, the system must also meet various other European standards, including, among others, regarding:
- Electrical safety (EN 60950-1 / EN 62368)
- EMC (EN 301 489)
- Radio-specific (EN 300 328/EN 301 511/EN 301 908-1/EN 301 908-2/EN 301 908-13/etc.)
In the process, a test report is required from an accredited test laboratory in accordance with ISO 17025.
