On the cards: Seven new E&T projects get go ahead

Legislation on the projects expected in 45 days.

LAHORE:

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Monday gave approval to four Excise and Taxation projects. Three other projects were approved in principle but the chief minister asked an implementation committee to devise a better strategy for them.

The approval came after a steering committee, constituted for the projects, reported that the projects suggested were viable.

Legislation regarding the projects is expected to be completed in 45 days, Special Monitoring Unit (SMU) Senior Member Salman Sufi said.

The implementation committee comprises SMU members and representatives from the chief minister’s office, the Excise and Taxation Department, the Punjab Information Technology Board, the Traffic Police, and Home, Transport, Finance and Law Departments.

The initial approval for the projects was granted earlier in February.

A steering committee formed in this regard submitted its reports on the financial and legal aspects of the project. Sufi said that four of the proposed projects had been granted approval by the chief minister. He had asked the implementation committee to devise a better strategy to implement three projects.

Projects granted approval

Among the four projects granted approval is the Dealer Vehicle Registration System (DVRS).

The idea is to register vehicles and issue licence plates at the point of sale.

Once dealers sign the DVRS and pay advance tax, the Excise and Taxation Department will issue standardised licence plates.

The dealers will charge customers for the registration fee and a convenience charge at the point of sale. The customer will receive a registered vehicle that has a licence plate registered under his or her name. This system will be put in place 90 days after the date of legislation.

Another project, the Token Payment Identification Sticker, has been suggested to remove the need to set up checkpoints to check whether vehicles have paid token tax. Under the project, licence plates will carry an identification tag indicating that the tax has been paid.

The Third-Party Liability Mandatory Insurance will ensure that all vehicles have minimum insurance cover. The provincial government will sign a memorandum of understanding with insurance companies in this regard to “prevent exploitation of vehicle owners”. After the MoU is signed and timelines to settle claims are agreed upon, vehicle insurance will be made mandatory. Another project, called Value Added Services, will offer consumers vanity licence plates at a premium. The timeline for the implementation of this project is 60 days from the date of legislation.

Better strategy required

The chief minister gave the implementation committee two weeks to devise new strategies with regard to these projects and present them. These projects include a bid to standardise licence plates province-wide. Another project, the Automotive Registration Card, will allow for real-time updates regarding stolen vehicles, token tax and traffic offences, to be uploaded on ARC servers and be made accessible to law enforcement agencies and the Excise and Taxation Department.

The project entails registering a licence under the vehicle owner’s name.

Any change in ownership of vehicle will require changing its licence plate as well. All token tax and traffic fines will also be associated with the licence plate.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2015.