Commuters not willing to carry original documents

Those without the original registration papers of vehicles will be fined.

KARACHI: With only three days left to the crackdown against vehicles found violating traffic rules, citizens are left wondering how to keep their original documents from getting stolen. 

The campaign, which is a joint venture of NGO Citizens Trust Against Crime (CTAC), Sindh Police and the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), starts on October 1 and will check original registration documents, driving licences, vehicle fitness certificates, motor vehicle tax sticker on the wind screen and licence registration plates issued by the excise and taxation department.



Waqas Hasan, a resident of Clifton Block 9 who owns a Honda Civic, told The Express Tribune that he doesn’t keep his car’s original documents out of fear that the vehicle would be stolen or snatched at gunpoint. “The city’s law and order situation does not permit people to keep their vehicles’ original documents with them. Snatching a car at gunpoint in this city is as easy as snatching a lollypop from a child,” he said, adding that the he only keeps his original driving licence with him while the rest of the car’s documents were coloured photocopies. “I keep my original driving licence along which the traffic police can use to fine me in case of any violation,” he said. He admitted that there was a paper in the registration book, bearing the necessary information, which can be torn and kept in the car, “But if lost or stolen, it can create problems in selling the car.”

Faisal Aziz, a resident of Malir, also shared the same concerns, saying “Asking the citizens to keep their original documents would not be a sensible move on part of the police.” Aziz travels daily to Saddar for work. “If someone snatched my car and its registration documents, then I wouldn’t be left with anything to approach the police with to register an FIR,” he said, adding that the police would not register his FIR without original documents while the insurance company would insist on an FIR plus original documents.



A traffic police head constable at Saddar told The Express Tribune that very few people carry their original registration documents as most prefer photocopies to be on the safe side. “We need their CNIC or driving licence which we keep in case of fines and usually don’t bother people about their original registration documents,” he said. “But if the traffic police high-ups have made it compulsory to carry original papers, then people should follow the rules.”

The Traffic Police Additional Deputy Inspector General Dr Qamar Rizvi, however, made it clear that the vehicles which do not oblige by the stated rules will be detained. “We will detain vehicles without original documents. People can take their vehicles back after submitting the Challan and showing the original registration documents,” he said.

He added that people can keep photocopies of their original documents and get them attested by a gazetted officer. Rizvi also said that the excise and taxation department has informed them that the registration plates are issued without any delay. “We will detain all vehicles which are without official registration plates.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2013.