Manual transfer of old vehicles comes to a halt

After the Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Department introduced a biometric system for the registration and transfer of vehicles and motorcycles, the transfer of ownership of old vehicles has been suspended and as a result, the department has started to lose millions of rupees daily.

The biometric system of old vehicles was started three days back and not a single old vehicle could be transferred in the Rawalpindi region during this period because the complete record of registration of old cars and old motorcycles was not computerised.

In the last three days, 429 cases were put up for transfer of old vehicles and motorcycles but they were returned due to the non-availability of the computerised record.

Pakistan's 50-year-old record of vehicles and motorcycles is not computerised. When this record is not computerised, the biometric system begins to cause problems, vehicle owners said.

Buyers of used cars and motorcycles said that they were facing difficulties and the condition of registration of old vehicles through the biometric system should be suspended immediately.

Transport Federation President Tariq Khan and Secretary Malik Ghulam Mustafa demanded that the decision to transfer old vehicles and motorcycles biometrically be suspended for six months and that the old manual system be restored and the registration system for old vehicles be fully computerised in six months.

Sources due to the sudden introduction of biometric registration of new vehicles, transporters and vehicle owners of the Rawalpindi division have opted to get their vehicles registered with the Islamabad Excise Department, where the system registration of vehicles and motorcycles in Islamabad is simple with a reasonable fee.

Due to this, Rawalpindi division offices were facing an annual loss of Rs150 million in revenue as the registration of new vehicles and motorcycles in the Rawalpindi region has dipped by 30 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Department of Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control and the federal agency, NRTC, have resolved issues related to computerised number plates of vehicles after registering new vehicles and new motorcycles in Punjab.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2022.