A four-year-old kid, aside from the usual items such as gold bars, jewellery, cash, cheques, mobile phones, passports and other important documents, was among valuables forgetful passengers left in Dubai taxis.

Thankfully, 70 per cent or at least 5,220 lost items reported by Dubai taxi users have been returned to their rightful owners - or in the case of the kid, to his parents - in the first half of 2019, according to figures released by Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC) on Sunday.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Dr Yousef Al Ali, CEO of DTC, said the incident of the 'lost kid' happened early this year. "The kid is around four years old and he was left inside the taxi van. The driver reported the incident immediately and the kid was returned to his family within minutes," he said.

Back in March 2017, Khaleej Times reported a similar incident where a visiting Gulf national couple forgot their infant inside a cab on their way to the airport. They left their sleeping baby in the cab's back seat as they alighted at the airport. It was only when the taxi left that they had realised that they had forgotten their child. The cabbie rushed back to the airport where he returned the baby to the grateful parents and the family was able to board their flight just in the nick of time.

Dubai taxi drivers value honesty. According to Dr Al Ali, in the first six months of this year, DTC returned 5,220 lost items to clients whether reported by clients through DTC call centre or returned by taxi drivers.

Dr Al Ali said that the total cash amount returned from January to June this year by honest taxi drivers has reached Dh640,000, excluding the monetary equivalent of other valuable items.

The single biggest amount returned to a passenger was $45,000 (approximately Dh165,000) and at least 107 grams of gold (worth around Dh17,000) were also returned.

"(They) were either returned to owners or referred to Dubai Police, Dubai Airports and other entities for handing over to owners in case reported," he added.

According to the DTC, which is under Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), there are around 12,000 male and female taxi drivers (handling in shifts more than 5,000 taxis) and around 1,000 limousine drivers.

Dr Al Ali said that the DTC has an "exceptional recognition and rewards scheme for the honest drivers" but he also urged taxi riders to be more attentive to their belongings and not hesitate to report lost items.

"DTC is making every effort to fast track the delivery of lost items to clients as it appreciates the importance of such items," he added.

He said the DTC has a control centre fitted with smart technologies for monitoring the taxi operations, the performance of drivers, service quality, emergency cases, and customers belongings.

Taxi passengers can report their lost items by visiting the DTC Customers Happiness Centre at Muhaisna; contacting the call centre at 8009090, or sending an e-mail to ask@rta.ae.

"DTC always stresses the values of transparency and honesty among staff and places top priority to maintaining high professional ethics. Compliance with these principles contributes to realising RTA's vision and making people happier," Dr Al Ali underlined.