Fraud detected in vehicle owners’ verification

Audit reveals misuse of appointing representatives for biometrics

LAHORE:

Fraud has been detected in the transfer of ownership of more than 6,000 vehicles through the Punjab excise department.

An investigation conducted by Excise Secretary Masood Mukhtar and DG Muhammad Ali confirmed illegal use of a facility of nominating a representative for biometric verification instead of the original seller undergoing the process in certain circumstances.

It is suspected that thousands of rupees had been received in bribe for misusing the concession. Most cases of ownership transfer through ADR representative, around 6,000, have been reported in the Lahore motor registration branch.

According to sources, the same national identity card number had been used for transferring 145 vehicles, while another had been used in 44 cases. The sources said the excise department director general had blocked the computer login access of the officers and inspectors involved in the cases.

An excise inspector serving in Lahore, Yasin Raza, has been suspended and a recommendation sent to the provincial secretary for suspension of a Motor Registration Authority official, Manzar Khalid.

Read PAC orders probe into vehicle fraud

Under the excise department law, if the owner of a vehicle is abroad, has passed away or his fingerprints are erased, then his designated representative or legal heir may complete biometric verification for ownership transfer. SOPs were devised to use the facility. Some time ago, the number of verifications done through representatives in Lahore soared to more than 100 every day. The DG had ordered an audit of the ADR cases across the province earlier this month.

The audit report revealed that 3,480 ADR cases had been processed under a system in place earlier, of which 2,005 had been handled by the inspector of the Lahore Motor Branch.

After the activation of the new motor vehicle system, 2,898 such cases were reported across Punjab, of which 2,818 were processed in Lahore, including 2,343 by Riaz. The report indicated that the excise officials responsible had misused the legal provision. The official of the MRA facing action had allowed the use of the same identity cards for a large number of ownership verifications.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2023.