Amendments approved: Motor vehicle laws move towards modernisation

Issuance of data-embedded cards for citizen among revisions to law

LAHORE: The Standing Committee on Excise and Taxation has approved amendments to the Provincial Motor Vehicle Registration Ordinance 1965 for automation of traffic systems.

A series of revisions have been made regarding the issuance of Automotive Registration Card (ARC) and the re-registration of vehicles from outside the province. Changes have also been made on rules governing vehicle number plates and penalties for those who fabricate them.

The amendments were drafted and proposed by the law and order wing of the Chief Minister's Special Monitoring Unit. They are part of the second phase of the Transport Sahulat Programme.

The initiative includes the automation of the excise and taxation and traffic systems. E-ticketing and the registration of vehicles with dealers also fall within the ambit of the programme.

Data-embedded

The amendment regarding ARCs will enable citizens to obtain a data-embedded card to replace the existing paper-based vehicle registration book. ARCs will include real-time information about owners and their vehicles. They will be embedded with details about the vehicle owner’s name and nationality and the number of traffic offences he or she has been involved in.

The information will make it easier for law-enforcement agencies to track down and confiscate vehicles in the event of a traffic violation.

Changes in rules on the re-registration of out-of-province vehicles will require the insertion of Section 30 of the 1965 ordinance. This provision deals with the assignment of fresh registration mark on removal to another province.

Penalties

Amendments have already been made regarding the replacement of ownership of vehicle number plates from vehicles to their owners. Penalties have been introduced for the fabrication of number plates. The act has been declared a cognisable offence. In such cases, police officers have the authority to make arrests without a warrant and initiate investigation with or without the court’s permission.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2016.