The worst performing government service centres in the UAE will be named and shamed as part of a campaign to raise standards, it was announced on Monday.

In a tweet, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said a total of 600 government service centres will be evaluated.

He said that on September 14, the five best and worst will be revealed, adding: "My message to officials: We will not accept anything short of the first position globally in our services and facilities."

In April, as part of a crackdown on poor performance, nine Tasheel government service centres were penalised, one was temporarily shut down in Sharjah and another in Dubai had its licence revoked.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation said the centres in the UAE had failed to raise the standard of customer service and showed low quality of work, high number of complaints and lengthy waiting periods.

The crackdown began after an investigation into slow service at an Emirates Post branch was launched by Sheikh Mohammed. He had been sent a photo of a long queue consisting of at least 30 people at an Emirates Post branch.