‘Invisible’ ink: Contractor warned over fading licences

Told to fix the problem at the earliest.

LAHORE:

The city traffic police have issued a warning to the company in charge of providing equipment for printing the driving licenses and told it to fix the problem of fading ink as soon as possible.

CTO Dr Usman Anwar said traffic police had been receiving complaints of licenses fading within six to eight months of issue. He said the contractor, Camera Craft, had been called in to resolve the matter. “We have threatened to blacklist them if they did not solve the issue,” he said. He said it was not fair for driving licence holders to have to apply for new licenses so early.

Muhammad Ashfaq and Muhammad Asif, both visiting the city traffic police office to get their licences reprinted, said they had got their licences three months ago and were now seeking replacements after the ink faded. Ashfaq said, “I was surprised. I took out my licence from my wallet and found it completely blank.”

“My first thought was to ask my mother if it had been washed but that was not the case,” he said.

Mazhar Hussain, the Camera Craft directo, said he had constituted a committee to probe the matter and solve the problem. He said the report will be available soon. “In the meantime, we have upgraded three printers and are examining other equipment.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2012.