Thousands of number plates remain delayed

While citizens face the brunt of the situation, department blames delay on non-issuance of funds

KARACHI:

The Sindh Excise Taxation and Narcotics Control Department appears to have failed in issuing original number plates to thousands of vehicles registered in the year 2018. Owing to which, citizens who had their vehicles registered during this period and paid the required registration fee, have been subject to constant badgering by law enforcement officials for yet not having an original number plate.

“I was issued a number of BLP series for my vehicle registered in 2018 but it’ been years now and I am still waiting for an official number plate,” said Riaz Ahmed, a resident of Saddar.

According to Ahmed, police and other law enforcement agencies often stop his vehicle for having a non-official number plate and inquire about the original one, sometimes even imposing fines for what Ahmed believes is the government’s fault. “It gets quite embarrassing when the traffic police stop me around every street corner and pesters me for the same reason,” he lamented.

Ahmed’s ordeal resonates with thousands of citizens who feel constantly badgered by law enforcement agencies, despite the Sindh High Court’s order that safeguards their right to travel without police interference.

The SHC in March 2020 had restrained the traffic police and others from harassing people for unofficial number plates, after the issue was raised through a petition. The court had also directed the Excise and Taxation Department to resolve the matter by immediately issuing the pending number plates.

Some people, who believed that their ordeal had no immediate resolve were also compelled to sell vehicles during this period but failed to do so for lacking original number plates. “I wanted to sell my car last year to overcome some financial issues but nobody was ready to buy it because it did not have an original number plate, “said Suhbat Ali, a resident of Gulshan-e-Hadeed. According to him, the few buyers who were interested in his car were offering severely discouraging rates, trying to manipulate him for not having an original plate. “I eventually ended up borrowing money from a relative rather than selling the car for coins,” told Ali.

The delay in issuance of number plates is owed to brimming controversies between the Excise and Taxation Department and the contractors involved in manufacturing of the number plates. Per officials privy to the development, the aforementioned controversies started when a contractor filed a petition against the department in the court of law.

However, according to Excise Motor Vehicle Registration Deputy Director Syed Ziauddin Shah, the matter has now been resolved by the court, and the department has awarded the contract to a new contractor. “There is a backlog of around 50,000 to 60,000 number plates. But we are waiting for required funds from the Finance Department. Once the funds are made available, we hope to start issuing the pending number plates by February of this year,” the deputy director told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2022.