Motorists’ woes: 200,000 cars still wait for their registration plates in Sindh

Vehicle owners in Karachi have been waiting for official number plates for the past one year

KARACHI: The Sindh Excise and Taxation Department has failed to issue official number plates for over 200,000 new cars, around half of which were registered during the financial year 2015-16 in the province. The majority of the newly-bought vehicles have been registered in Karachi and according to Excise officials, around 100,000 cars are registered in the city every year.

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Despite an overwhelming number of vehicles being registered in the city, no number plates have been issued to motorists for the past one year. As a result, many motorists have been forced to run their vehicles using temporary number plates.

To top it all off, motorists with temporary number plates have to bear the brunt of the excise department’s sluggishness as they are frequently pulled over and fined by the traffic police for not displaying original number plates.

There is growing frustration among motorists as the excise department’s motor vehicle registration wing has charged advance payment for issuing official number plates for every new vehicle during its registration process. Earlier, Rs500 were charged for a issuing a number plate for each newly-registered car. However, the fee has been increased to Rs1,000 for each vehicle since July this year due to inflation and hike in dollar prices.

If the amount charged by the excise department from 0.2 million customers is calculated at the rate of Rs500 each, it makes Rs100 million. Possibly, motorists have paid additional amount in the form of fines to the traffic police for not having original number plates.

Aijaz Ahmed, a resident of Karachi, who is also going through the ordeal of not having a permanent number plate, said that he got his new car registered with the excise department a year and a half ago but he is still waiting for the number plate.

“It was a series of BLP numbers that is still not available at the excise department’s motor registration section. I have contacted the relevant authorities many times but their reply has remained the same that number plates of this series have still not arrived,” Ahmed lamented.

Ahmed told The Express Tribune that he has paid fines to the traffic police on different occasions for not displaying an original number plate.

“The wastage of time and suffering my family and I had to undergo at the excise department is a separate ordeal,” he added.

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Muhammad Tahir, a private agent who facilitates people with the registration of vehicles at the Motor Vehicle Wing of the Excise and Taxation Department located at Civic Centre, says the issue is not new but it has been blown out of proportion for the first time.

“People had to face a similar problem back in 2004 as well. However, at the time the problem was mostly related to commercial vehicles instead of private cars,” he said.

According to sources, the financial interests of certain excise and taxation officers is one of the main reasons for the huge backlog of number plates. Per an insider, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the tender for awarding the contract to the number plate manufacturer was cancelled because the financial interests of officers concerned was not guaranteed.

“The department has cancelled the tenders at least four times during the current financial year because of the personal financial interests of certain officers,” he added.

When approached, the Deputy Director Motor Registration, Sher Muhammad Shaikh did not respond despite repeated phone calls and messages. Excise and Taxation Secretary, Abdul Haleem Shaikh, however, was available for comments.

“Initially, this issue was developed after the issuance of a stay order by the Sindh High Court against the tendering process of 2015-16,” Shaikh said. “Afterwards, contracts for the manufacturing of number plates were not awarded during financial year 2018-19 either. The department cancelled the tenders because it received offers at higher rates,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2019.