People head to Islamabad for vehicle registration
The Rawalpindi section of the provincial excise and taxation department has so far failed to issue smart cards for vehicle registration and the registration number plates to the motorists even after passage of August 30 deadline.
The department had announced to issue smart cards and number plates until August 31, after reopening of offices that were shut due to the coronavirus lockdown, officials said requesting anonymity.
Irked over months-long delay in motor vehicle registration process, owners have started getting their vehicles registered from Islamabad instead of Rawalpindi, they said.
The charges in the federal capital were five per cent less than the garrison city and a motorist gets their registration card within five days too, the officials said adding that having a federal capital number plate instead of provincial city’s increases the resale value of cars.
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Meanwhile, the Punjab Excise and Taxation department has extended the deadline for filing vehicle token and property taxes until September 30.
The excise department has also increased the discount rate on property taxes from 5% to 10%. On filing taxes through excise mobile application or banks, the percentage rate has been kept at 15%.
Further, for the token tax, the motorists would be given a relief of 20% if they pay the outstanding tax within the given deadline. The vehicle owners resorting to file token tax through excise mobile application would be given a 25% concession.
The department has also permitted payment of quarterly tax on commercial vehicles through its mobile application.
Sources said that high discount rates were attracting the motorists and the percentage of motorists paying them has increased drastically over the past few days.
It added that there would be a crackdown against the non-payers from October 1 and they would be imposed with heavy fines too.Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2020.