By: Shaza Walid & Heidi Soliman

Is it time to renew your National ID? Do you need to know the release date of your favorite movie star’s next film? Do you need to book a train ticket to Alexandria to attend a special occasion? Are you frustrated because an important medication was not available in nearby pharmacies?

Well, you can easily have all these services and much more done without having to leave your home or office. Due to the improvement of the governmental and private services, getting things done became much easier than before thanks to online services. Errands that have been considered long and dull, like issuing your National ID, paying your home phone bill, and renewing your Internet subscription became easier tasks now.

Things even went far beyond that level, you can nearly do everything online, from hotel reservations, online shopping, ordering food, hiring someone to fix your appliances to donating to charities. All that can now be done from home.

Since it is our ultimate goal at Yaoota to ease things up for our dear readers, we created this “Guide to Egypt’s Online Services” to save your time and effort. We are providing you with most public and private online services that you will most likely use regularly. Also, we are providing a simple explanation on how to benefit from those online services, because your comfort is our goal. 

1- Governmental Sites

• Egyptian Government Site: Through this website, you can learn about plenty of governmental services, such as addresses, phone numbers, and websites of various ministries. Also, directories of governorates, websites related to Egypt’s state council, more information about governmental laws, Egypt’s constitution, universities and institutes enrollment, inquiring about electricity bills for the subscribers of Suez Canal Company for Electricity, real estate publicity department, ministry of justice, courts services (cassation court, appeal court, and primary court), and traffic offenses services.
   
• Government Complaints Portal: Through this website, you can submit any complaints to the Egyptian government to get examined, analyzed, and resolved in the nearest possible chance. You can also follow up on a previous complaint and check its status by inserting your national ID, complaint number, or telephone number.
• Civil Status Organization: This website enables you to issue a birth, death, marriage, or divorce certificate. You can also issue a national ID card and a personal/family extract register. You can pay online or in cash (on delivery). This site also provides services for Egyptians living abroad.
• Egyptian Government Jobs: This is where you can search for governmental job opportunities and the requirements and duties of each job.
• Egyptian National Railways: Through this website, you can find information about train schedules and book tickets as well.
• Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy: The website helps you get information about electricity laws, the status of the electric circuit and energy conservation. Also, you can submit complaints about electricity theft and get an estimated bill for your electricity consumption. In addition to all that, you can find more information about the ministry’s latest news, its goals, and achievements.
• Petroleum Trading Service Company (Petrotrade): Through this website, you can inquire about your natural gas bill, enter your natural gas meter readings yourself, and send any complaints or feedbacks regarding the service. It also provides a directory of the numbers you can call in case you encounter any malfunction.
• Egypt Post: This website allows you to inquire about housing ministry apartments, follow up and track postages and courier shipments, search for tenders, auctions or shipping items, and postal offices. Lastly, for those who are stamp-enthusiasts, there is a collection of various stamps that you can view on the site.
• Egypt’s Information Portal: On this website, you will find general information about Egypt; entry requirements, exit procedure, official working hours, official holidays, and finding statistics and databases about Egypt. Also, you can find the addresses and telephone numbers of different embassies in Egypt.
• Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS): On this website, you can find Egypt’s population count and the number of residents in each governorate. In addition to statistics, detailed data, and databases, there are surveys about various topics related to Egypt (economy, commerce, topics related to tourism, poverty, or income). If interested in working in CAPMAS, you will find job opportunities available on the site. Furthermore, the site has various publications available online about various studies carried out by CAMPAS, and various maps about Egypt’s geography.
• Government E-Procurement Portal: On this website, you can find addresses and phone numbers of the General Authority of Educational Buildings (GAEB) in every governorate. Also, you can learn about the government’s purchasing transactions (auctions or tenders) that the government is participating in. Through the portal’s search engine, you can look for supplies, tenders, or local products. Furthermore, you can view proposed offers and transaction reports.
• Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport (HCMLT): Through this website, you can book your regional trip whether by land or by sea and pay online using your credit card.
• Telecom Egypt: The website enables you to request your landline phone bill and find information about offers by Telecom. Also, you can know your new phone number in addition to finding out emergency numbers and country codes. Not only that, but you can also find the time zone of any country around the world and find a directory of Telecom’s branches all over Egypt. Finally, you can submit any inquiry or complaint online.
• Ministry of Education: Through this website, you can find the ministry’s information center; communicate with them if you have any inquiries, suggestions, or if you want to inquire about schools’ education fees. You can also find the annual statistic report and information about indicators and statistics of every school year.
• Ministry of Higher Education: Using this website, you can find information about international students affairs, a map of Egyptian universities, addresses and phone numbers of foreign cultural centers in Egypt. That is in addition to scholarships, grants, and culture contests announcements.
• Ministry of Interior: On this website, you will find information about the ministry, information about police authority sites and emergency numbers, a directory of the General Security directorates, and a directory of police agencies. The site allows you to file complaints and police reports, whether you are a citizen or a tourist. It also can help with the extraction and renewal of work permits in addition to online services for the police academy.
• The Egyptian Exchange: On this website, you will find financial statements, listing news, news about companies, adequate information about trading, market data, international relations, and reports about Egypt’s exchange and stock.
• Egyptian Hajj Portal: You can access that portal to find the timing and results of the Hajj lottery and information about NGOs Hajj, touristic Hajj, committees, and delegations Hajj. You will also find information on fatwā about Hajj and its rituals.
   

2- Selling and Purchasing Sites

• Sell and Buy (Be3 Weshtery): It is a website for buying and selling many items, like mobile phones, computers, and cars. You can also buy, sell, or rent properties. In addition to that, you can post or seek job opportunities in sales, engineering, programming, etc., and can post classified ads as well.
• Property Finder: It is a website for selling, buying, and renting properties in Egypt and some other middle-eastern countries. Through the search engine, you can look for properties suitable for you in regards to price, room numbers, and living area.
• Aqar Map: It is a website for selling, buying or renting apartments, properties, villas, and chalets in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. On the site, you will find various tips regarding buying properties. Also, you will find advice on how to use the space in an apartment in a smart way.
• Estabena: Through the website, you can sell or buy properties, whether it is an apartment, a villa, a medical facility, or an office in Greater Cairo, Alexandria and Menofeya. If you wish to list your property on the site, you can contact the team and set up an appointment for a visit. The purpose of the visit is for the team to collect information about your property and take accurate pictures of it. This information is later posted on the site in order to be viewed by site visitors.
• Contact Cars: You can sell or buy cars or motorcycles (used or new) through this site. It has the addresses of all the car service centers for all car brands. That is in addition to the names of car showrooms in Egypt and their customers’ reviews. Also, you will find information about installment and insurance programs.
• Hatla2ee: This is a website for selling and buying new or used cars. Through its search engine, you can look for a suitable car for you based on the price, model, or brand you are looking for. Furthermore, the site has the phone numbers and addresses of car service centers for all car brands, information, and advice on buying a car and information about traffic fines.

3- Medical Services

• Vezeeta: Through this website, you can look for more than 2000 doctors in different governorates. You can choose a doctor based on the rating of previous patients and book an appointment online with the doctor of your choice. In addition, you can check the cost of consultation and the waiting time.
• Rosheta:  A search engine that you can use to find any medicine by searching for its name, the symptoms you have, or by the chemical substance it contains. Another thing you can do to find a certain medicine is to upload a picture of your prescription and the site will help you find the medicine you want. When you finally figure out which medicine you want to buy, the site can provide you with the location of the nearest three pharmacies. Rosheta delivers to almost all governorates in Egypt without any delivery fees.

4- Entertainment Services

• Ticketsmarche: You will find concerts, sports, tourism, and entertainment events on this website. All you need to do is to create an online account and book your ticket online to any event you are interested in. Later, you pick up your ticket from any of the selling booth/outlet mentioned on the site.  

• E7gezly: Through this website, you can look for and book various seminars, events, and parties in Egypt. There are three methods of payment; through the site, through fawry.com, or E7gezly can send you someone to collect the money in cash.

• Cairo Opera House: Booking events is so much easier now because you can book and pay for your ticket online. You can also choose the seats you prefer.

• Cinema.com: Through the website, you can book a ticket for the movie you want to watch in some selected cinemas in Egypt. You can pay either through fawry.com or with your credit card.

• Eventtus: It is an Egyptian application and website that is similar to Facebook and Twitter. Through the website, you can learn the latest important and famous events available in your area or city. You can join an event that you want to share with your friends. The site also allows you to create your own event for free. There is also an option called “Handshake” that you can use to connect with people you meet at an event, which allows you to exchange information.

5- Employment Sites

• Jobzella: Through Jobzella, you can find and apply for jobs that suit you by simply uploading your CV/resume online. You can also find training courses. This site is essential for business owners and companies if they want to find potential employees who have the experiences they are looking for. From time to time, Jobzella organizes employment fairs.

• Wuzzuf: Through this site, you can upload your CV and find job opportunities and internships in different companies in Egypt. If someone wants to find a potential employee for a job, they could post the opportunity on the site. In addition, you can find career articles and a lot of advice on jobs and job interviews. There are also announcements for employment fairs and workshops.

• Bayt: Through Bayt, you can upload your CV and find job opportunities and internships in various companies in Egypt. This site is essential for business owners and companies who are looking for potential employees. Also, there is information about how to write CVs to help you when applying for a job. Also, you will find training programs to assist your career skills.

6- Ticket Booking and Tourism Booking Sites

• Egypt Travel: This is a site by the Egyptian Tourism Authority that has a complete directory of all the activities you can do and the places you can visit in Egypt. You can also find events that are held in Egypt on this site.

• Batuta: On this site, you can find a complete directory for various touristic countries around the world written in Arabic. It includes activities and touristic attractions in every city. Also, you can book hotels immediately from the site and cancel your booking free of charge. You can also read articles about the most famous restaurants, events, and shopping areas in every country.

• TravelStart: Through this site, you can find the best offers for flight tickets, hotels, and cars for transportation in many countries around the world. In addition, you can find travel insurances and information about travel regulations for all countries. And there is information about the most important activities that you can do as well.  

7- Food Delivery Websites

• Elmenus: This site has the menus, phone numbers, and addresses of all the food outlets in Egypt. Through its search engine, you can look for the restaurant you want based on its location, and the kind of food it serves. The site also has restaurant reviews.

• Otlob: Bernard Shaw once said, “There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” If you are one of those people who could relate to this saying, then Otlob.com is the website for you. Otlob offers a complete directory of all the restaurants available in your area. Through the site, you can get any menu you want and you can place any order you wish from the menu. You can also set up the delivery time and pay when you get your order.

• Menuegypt: This is a collected directory for the best and most famous food outlets in Egypt. You can search and find a list of all the restaurants available in your area. In addition, it enables you to search for a food outlet by name, most popular, and newest. The site offers you the addresses of the restaurant branches and also the menus of similar food outlets that you are looking for.

8- House-cleaning Services

• Elegance Care: Through this website, you can order various cleaning services for your clothes, furniture, home, curtains, or ceramic care. You can pick the cleaning service program that suits your needs. The site also has advice for house cleaning.

• Taskty: Through this website, you can order various services, such as house cleaning, furniture cleaning, pest control, house maintenance, wall patterns and wall painting work, and much more. The payment is in cash for the service provider.

• Busybees: Ordering house-cleaning service is easy and simple with Busybees. You can order various types of house-cleaning services (light cleaning that includes polishing all types of furniture, and the company’s prime service (known as the ‘Busybees’ cleaning) that includes cleaning chandeliers, lamps, windows, and electric appliances).

9- Transportation Websites

• Raye7: Through this mobile application, you can communicate with people living near where you live or work, and get a ride with them if you are both heading to the same area. That way, you can save effort, time, and money. You choose whether you want to ride with someone or you are willing to take someone with you in your own car. The price of the ride is based on points that are collected depending on how much was the car’s gasoline consumption.

• Ousta: Through this application, you can order a car with a driver to take you to where you want. Its advantage is that its fare is fixed even during rush hours. You can either pay for this service in cash or by credit card.

• Uber: Through this application, you can order a car for you or for somebody else by selecting your pickup location. The app’s advantage is that it gives you an estimated fare charge for the ride. It also alerts you when you order a car during rush hours and tells you how much the fare will be. In addition, you can monitor the location of the car you ordered through GPS, so that you know exactly how far the car you ordered is. Uber offers you two methods of payment, either in cash when the car drops you off at your destination or by a credit card.

• Careem: One of the best and most famous apps for rides. Its advantages are its wide popularity and the variety of car models it offers. That is in addition to its payment methods (cash or visa cards). The app offers estimated route information before ordering. You can follow up with the car you ordered route when it is on its way to you. Also, you can order a ride for any member of your family or any of your friends just by entering their pickup location.

• Go Bus: Through this application, you can book your trip to Hurghada, Luxor, Alexandria, Marsa Alam, and Sharm El-Sheikh online without having to go to the ticketing office. One of its advantages is that it allows you to know your exact arrival time in the city you are heading to.

10- Electronic Payment Sites

• One Card: It is an online payment portal that eases buying and booking what you want online. They have outlets in various shops in Cairo.

• Cashu: All you have to do is to create an online account, then you add money to your account through the various distributors available in Egypt. After you fill up your account, you can buy or book anything online safely.

• Bee: It is a company for payment services and for money collection solutions. It allows you to finish a lot of services fast and securely, like recharging your balance, paying university fees, and recharging balances for games, charities and insurance services. That is in addition to paying your mobile ADSL and phone bills.

• Masary: It is a website that eases electronic payments. Through this site, you can pay your telephone bills, insurance, send money to charity, and pay the tuition fees for some universities. Also, you can pay your electricity bills and pay for your online shopping. The services of Masary electronic payments are available for both individuals and companies.

11- Donation/Charity Websites

• Egyptian Food Bank: Through the site, you can donate money using your personal credit card in order to contribute to eliminating hunger in Egypt. In many feeding programs, you can donate Sadakat vouchers (delivering meat as charity), monthly feeding, ‘Zakat’ funds (Alms giving program), school feeding program, and much more. You can make your donation through the National Bank of Egypt or the Arab African International bank.
• Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation: You can donate money through this site to help contribute to heart operations by the foundation. You can donate in Egyptian pounds or in US dollars.
• Zewail City of Science and Technology: Through the site, you can donate money to support scientific research in Egypt.
• Resala Organization: Through the site, you can donate money for many projects, such as orphan sponsorship, donations for prostheses, hearing aids for the deaf, and also donate money as ‘Zakat’.
• Baheya Foundation: Through the site, you can donate the amount of money you desire for the detection and treatment of breast cancer.
• 57357 Children’s Cancer Hospital Foundation: Through this site, you can donate money to help save the lives of children with cancer. You can help by donating ‘Zakat’ funds, as an ongoing charity, and as monthly donations. You can also sponsor a child or donate money for scientific research.
• Dar Al-Orman Association: Through Dar Al-Orman, you can donate money for many charity programs; your donations can be directed to the Orman oncology hospital, heart operations, sponsoring an orphan, sacrifices, Ramadan bags, ‘Zakat’ funds, and ongoing charities.
• Al-Hassan Foundation: The foundation aims at supporting and rehabilitating wheelchair users. Through the site, you can donate the amount of money you desire for purchasing medical equipment, providing a family with an allowance, public announcement campaigns, rehabilitation, and much more.
• Ahl-Masr Foundation: Through this website, you can donate the amount of money you desire for the treatment and awareness of burn victims.
• Masr El-Khier Foundation: Through this website, you can donate money to support human development projects in terms of health, scientific research, social equivalence, and much more.
• Ayady Al-Mostakbal: You can donate money through this website to help with the free treatment of patients with tumors. You can select the type of donation you want (treatments, medical equipment, or bed donations).
• Beit El-Zakat wal-Sadaqat El-Masri (Egyptian House for Zakat and Sadaqat): You can contribute by donating money as’ Zakat’ and the house decides to spend the money on the suitable outlets based on Shariaa laws.
• Nour Ala Nour Foundation: Through this website, you can donate money to help the treatment of children.  

Do you have any other sites that make your life easier? Please share them with us by leaving a comment below.