Prices of NCP vehicles go up after rumours

FBR refutes social media amnesty reports, asks general public to report such posts to FIA

SHANGLA:

The prices of non-custom paid vehicles has gone up considerably in the Malakand Division of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa after the rumours that government has announced an amnesty scheme for such vehicles.

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has already refuted all such rumours and said that an amnesty could be announced only by the federal government which no such plans.

Despite the repeated clarification by FBR in this regard, the sale and purchase of NCP vehicles continued in the Malakand Division, the seven districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, and the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) now called newly merged districts.

Rumours of an amnesty scheme for NCP vehicles have led to a 20-25 per cent increase in their prices, benefiting the dealers.

Fake registration forms and social media posts claiming to be from the government have also been circulating widely, causing confusion among the general public.

A viral post on social media claimed that the amnesty scheme would allow registration of two vehicles per person with a computerized national identity card, and even listed possible tax amounts for different types of vehicles.

However, the FBR has repeatedly clarified that no amnesty scheme has been launched for NCP vehicles. Despite this, the rumors persist, and dealers are taking advantage of the situation, minting coins with both hands.

Official sources told The Express Tribune that the government is considering a solution to address the issue of NCP vehicles, but no concrete steps have been taken yet.

The FBR has asked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to identify and take action against social media accounts spreading false information about the amnesty scheme. The public is advised to be cautious and not fall prey to these rumors.

The FBR has also warned that any registration forms or documents claiming to be part of an amnesty scheme are fake and should be reported to the authorities.

Background

In January this year provincial government extended the registration date for the non-custom paid (NCP) vehicles in the Malakanad Division till March 15.

The decision to register NCP vehicles was taken after report that these vehicles were being used in terrorism.

Official sources told The Express Tribune that earlier the deadline had been set at December 31 for the profiling and registration of NCP vehicles which has been now extended by another three months.

They said that in Malakanad Division and other former Fata districts so far 50,000 vehicles have been registered.