New vehicle registration system tested

Customers were issued authorised licence plates on the spot

LAHORE: The Special Monitoring Unit (Law and Order) organised the final test-run of the Dealer Vehicle Registration System on Saturday in collaboration with the Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Department (ET&NC) and the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB).

Excise Minister Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, SMU Senior Member Salman Sufi and ET&NC Secretary Ahmed Balal were present on the occasion. Two car-dealers successfully registered vehicles under the DVRS programme on the occasion. The test involved actual transactions through which the customers get their vehicles registered. They were issued authorised licence plates on the spot.

The DVRS software, created by the PITB, has an interface with the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and the ET&NC Department. When the customers paid the registration fee to the dealer, the amount was deducted from dealer’s account and transferred online to the government. Automated receipts were generated and given to the customers.

Sufi said that the government aimed to facilitate the public through innovative solution such as the DVRS. “The system will save tax payers from a tedious and time-consuming process and prevent exploitation by unregistered and unregulated agents,” he said. The DVRS initiative is part of SMU’s Transport Sahulat Programme. In Lahore, seven car dealers have been authorised by the ET&NC Department to register vehicles and issue licence plates.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2016.