ICT admin to launch online car registration forms

Sellers will be required to verify their fingerprints at any NADRA office

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to stop fraud in the sale and purchase of vehicles amid rising car thefts in the federal capital, the district administration has devised a plan to record and verify the fingerprints involved in such transactions.

Islamabad Chief Commissioner Amir Ali Ahmed has directed the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) excise office to introduce a new set of forms for registration of cars. These forms can also be filled online and the move is expected to ease the pressure at the excise offices.

Those hoping to register their vehicles will be able to access the registration forms on the website of Islamabad’s excise and taxation department.

However, this method will not completely eliminate the need for car purchasers to visit the excise office since they will have to go there to deposit the requisite government fees and tax.



The biggest ease will be offered to those selling their vehicles who will not be bound to visit the excise office anymore. Instead, they can go to any National Database Regulatory Authority (NADRA) office to have their fingerprints verified and then give the receipt to the purchaser-seller will go to any NADRA office have their fingerprints verified and will give the receipt to the purchaser after which the transfer of car will be processed.

Islamabad Excise and Taxation Director Bilal Ahmed, while confirming the new registration process, hoped that it will facilitate people who want to register the sale or purchase of their vehicles.

He hoped that it would spell the end of long queues outside the excise office while the public will be able to complete their vehicle registration faster and smoother.

Moreover, he hoped that it will also put an end to fraud whereby people used to get cars transferred to their names after taking it to sell it.

Ahmed added that after March 1, any car on an open transfer letter will not be transferrable to another owner.

He said that this was the first time such measures were being introduced in Pakistan. If successful, they will be replicated at excise offices across the country.

Sources at the excise office said that the measure would also put an end to the ‘agent’ mafia who offer people a quicker way to get their car registration done but end up getting defrauded or pay exorbitant sums for something which is free.

Moreover, it will also put an end to illegal car transfers.

The officials added that the measure was taken after a number of incidents of fraud were reported involving these agents where the car had been transferred to another without the consent or knowledge of the owner.

Citizens lauded the new measures, noting that they will not have to stand in long queues for two to three hours anymore.

Moreover, they hoped that it would also quicken the entire process because previously they had to wait for days for the car to be registered or transferred.

In October 2015, the ICT administration had started distributing chip-based registration cards containing details of both the vehicle and the owner. That initiative had also been launched in collaboration with NADRA.

The card contains details including name of the vehicle owner, their identity card number, chassis number of the vehicle, a microprocessor chip with multiple apps, and a complete record of the particular vehicle. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2019.