Punjab decides to rescind licences issued to dealers

Move aimed at reducing the number of illegal sellers in the province

LAHORE:

The Punjab government has decided to rescind the licences of all existing arms dealers and introduce a stringent new verification process for the issuance of permits in the province. The move has left sellers with fake credentials in hot waters.

Details gathered by the Express Tribune show the provincial interior ministry and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) have already initiated the process of cancelling existing licenses. Subsequently, all arms dealers have been given until April 23 to meet the new requirements, which include procuring hardware that supports the Management Information System (MIS) established to maintain data related to sales.

The MIS, which was created in collaboration with NADRA, allows the provincial interior department to monitor the trade of weapons and the dealers across Punjab. All dealers will be required to process their sales through the system, which performs the mandatory biometric verification before the transaction. According to a document provided by the provincial interior department, Punjab has a total of 667 arms dealers. The department has approved the spot verification of 451 sellers and suspended 26 for failing to clear the process.

Similarly, the department has canceled 7 licenses. A total of 182, the document said, are pending. Under the new arrangement, a licence to sell weapons will only be granted after biometric verification of the applicant is completed. Department insiders said the action will result in the cancellation of 200 licenses that were illegally obtained. In a letter issued to all arms dealers in the province earlier this month, the department directed all traders to procure systems that are capable of running the new verification system and storing information related to sales.

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To apply for a license, the provincial interior department has also made it mandatory for the applicants to appear in person. Details show that the list of documents that will require verification has also been increased. All applicants, the department said, will be required to present the National Tax Number, which will also be verified before the permit is issued. So far, only 38 arms dealers have received the permit to sell weapons in the province. “Their records have been verified,” confirmed an official who is part of the verification team.

The new verification process, which security experts say, is stringent, will limit fake licenses in the province. Separately, the provincial interior department is also scrutinizing the records of dealers or vendors who have been conducting business with expired licenses. “So far, 5 such dealers have surfaced in Lahore alone,” the department confirmed. Over the past few months, several online groups have been found selling arms through social media platforms, particularly Facebook. When checked most of these self-proclaimed vendors were unauthorized and did not have a legal permit to conduct the business.