Departmental backlog : No end to wait for computerised number plates

The third anniversary of the Excise and Taxation Department’s negligence of having billed residents but not providing computerised number plates and smart cards is on the horizon, much to Rawalpindi’s vehicle owners’ dismay.

In the Rawalpindi division alone, which also comprises Attock, Chakwal and Jehlum, computerized number plates of 238,196 vehicles and smart cards of 4,378 vehicles have been pending since February of 2019. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. According to Rizwan Bangash, who is an authorized Vehicle Registration Dealer of the Excise Department, across Punjab, about 900,000 computerized number plates and a total of 131,000 smart cards are outstanding for nearly 3 years now.

Frustrated car and motorcycle owners’, who have paid Rs560 for the card and Rs1,500 for the number plate, routine for this prolonged wait involves visiting the excise department from time to time, only to be turned away and told to wait another month or so.

Out of the long list of people waiting, with their patience fading away, one such individual is, Chaudhry Khalid Mahmood, who while talking to The Express Tribune, said that two years had passed and he still had not got his number plate. “Every time I visit the department, they say I will receive it when it arrives from Lahore and gives me a new date on every visit,” an irate Mehmood said, “there is a very poor performance from a government department that has received all its fees but has not bothered to deliver.”

Others like Faisal Rashid, tired of waiting, had to take the matter into their own hands. “Tired of waiting since March of last year, I got a number plate made from the open market,” he informed. The downside to Rashid’s market-made number plate is the city traffic police’s lack of acceptance for it as he has been fined several times. Farhan Gardezi, a cab driver, who’s done exactly as Rashid has, got cold feet when he was stopped several times and fined. “If the number plates cannot be made my money should be returned or the traffic police should be asked to stop fining everyone if we do not have the required plates,” he pleaded.

Zulqarnain Pasha, who finally received his plates two weeks ago, however, had another bone to pick with the Excise and Taxation Department. “The material of this number plate is substandard and I cannot believe I paid Rs1,500 for it when I could have gotten the same made from the market for Rs 400,” Pasha complained.

A furious Pasha, lashing out at the department, added that the material used should have been proportionate with the cost charged.

An official of the Excise Department, familiar with the process, when inquired about the departmental negligence, stated that computerized number plates of registered vehicles and motorcycles are manufactured in the Lahore office and also sent by them. “Whatever number plates and smart registration cards we receive from Rawalpindi office we deliver to the owners. The Rawalpindi office has no role in the manufacturing of these number plates and smart cards,” he said.

When asked when the backlog would be cleared, he informed that recently they had received 14,000 smart cards and 5,000 number plates of newly registered vehicles and motorcycles and had dispatched them to the owners already. “I know this backlog has been going on since 2019, but the issue will be resolved by June of this year,” the official told The Express Tribune.