Under scrutiny : Punjab halts ‘bogus’ registration of vehicles

E&T department is establishing a procedure for the verification of Army vouchers

LAHORE:

The Punjab Excise and Taxation department has imposed an indefinite ban on the registration of Army auctioned vehicles across the province.

According to details available with the Express Tribune, the restriction will remain effective until a foolproof procedure is established for the verification of Army vouchers.

Officials familiar with the development said the ban was imposed following directives from the Secretary Excise and Taxation Punjab, Waqas Ali Mahmood.

“There has been a long-running dispute between excise department and Army officials over the verification of vouchers. When excise department contacts Army officials for the verification of these vouchers, they are told that confirmation cannot be provided without approval from the headquarters,” claimed one official.

Sources revealed that the anti-corruption department is probing the registration of vehicles that were auctioned by the Army. Consequently, a case has also been registered against officers of the excise department for failing to provide scanned registration records of such vehicles.

Department insiders believe strict disciplinary action is in the pipeline against those who have facilitated the registration of vehicles with bogus documents.

Last month, the Excise Department suspended the registration of 4,119 vehicles, which were apparently registered on bogus Army auction vouchers.

The matter, which is now being seen as the biggest scandal related to the registration of used, smuggled and stolen vehicles, has jolted the excise department.

Details revealed by insiders show that these vehicles were being registered for several years by a group of officials within the Punjab Excise and Taxation department with the help of private individuals.

Earlier, the Punjab Excise and Taxation Department constituted two committees to probe the issue of registration of more than 7,000 commercial vehicles on fake Army auction vouchers. One department insider said it was almost impossible to determine the exact number of such vehicles since the records were never scanned or saved.

In addition, the excise and transport departments are jointly preparing a framework to document and regulate workshops that manufacture commercial vehicle bodies.

Both departments have decided to prepare recommendations to bring manufacturers of vehicle bodies under the purview of rules and regulations. Consequently, a team comprising Director Transport Department, Secretary PTA, DG Narcotics Control, and Director Excise has been created to oversee the regulation process. Under transport laws, all auto workshops must be licensed by the Department of Transportation.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2021.