Citizens continue to wait for computerised number plates

Despite a lapse of two years, the Punjab Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Office Rawalpindi has not been able to clear the longstanding issue of computerised number plates and smart cards for vehicles and motorcycles.

According to sources, after recently receiving the number plates of nearly 9,000 of newly registered vehicles and motorcycles, the excise department is still short of over 0.1 million number plates.

On the other hand, the sources said, over 0.1 million registered smart cards of vehicles and motorcycles were still pending with the department.

Irked by the months-long delay in the motor vehicle registration process, owners have started getting their vehicles registered from Islamabad instead of Rawalpindi, sources added. The charges in the federal capital were reportedly less than in the garrison city and motorists get their registration card within a fortnight.

The department has sent the freshly-received computerised number plates to the Rawalpindi General Post Office to dispatch them to the owners. Sources also said distribution of these number plates among the owners is likely to start in a day or two.

Meanwhile, vehicle owners have cast doubts over the post office’s ability to deliver these number plates on time.

The citizens said the post office no longer has mail carriers to deliver these number plates as they hire private riders.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2022.