Can vehicle management be reformed in Sindh?

With only minor changes in its vehicle verification system, Sindh E&T dept can provide useful, powerful data to users.

While the Sindh Excise and Taxation (E&T) Department might still be struggling to figure out an efficient mode of yearly road tax collection, it must not be denied credit for having taken an important step forward to improve its vehicle verification process. The department now has on its website an online vehicle verification facility that allows citizens to check basic information and facts about any private or commercial vehicle.

Regrettably, the Sindh Police, which is responsible for fighting crime in the province and which is often the victim of vehicular lawlessness, does not have the capability to readily access the credentials of thousands of suspected vehicles that move around with complete impunity. The police must perform the near impossible task of assembling at one place, personnel and laptops from, at least, four different departments to figure out the complete details and background of a vehicle. This also explains why the police is often helpless and ineffective in the face of organised crime. One wonders why the Sindh Police has taken pains to keep itself away from the techniques and technologies that are a norm not just in Western countries but are also available to its counterparts in Islamabad and Punjab.

With only minor changes in its vehicle verification system, the Sindh E&T Department could provide immensely useful and powerful data services to the police and public at the same time. It could begin by providing the vehicle verification facility on mobile phones, where users could retrieve a vehicle’s data by simply sending the vehicle registration number on a four-digit short code SMS. Within a few seconds, the user could receive an automated SMS response that includes the information currently displayed on the E&T website plus the owner’s name, the last four digits of the owner’s CNIC and the vehicle chassis number. The information must clearly state if the vehicle was stolen or involved in a crime. The return SMS must also indicate the total outstanding amount of tax to be given, including the penalty for late payment. Provision can be made for the police to receive additional information such as the owner’s complete CNIC number or the inspection status for commercial vehicles.

The next urgently needed reform in the Sindh vehicle management system is to enable all citizens to pay their yearly motor vehicle tax without going to any office or bank. This can be done in two steps. First by sending an SMS to obtain the vehicle details as described above. The SMS response will indicate the exact amount of tax due (including penalty if any). Individuals can then pay the tax, sitting in their homes, by using any of the SMS-based mobile money transfer schemes such as ‘Easy Paisa’, ‘Mobicash’, ‘UBL Omni’ or ‘Upaisa’. The E&T Department could specify a phone number for tax payment, which also sends a return SMS to confirm the receipt of payment.

Vehicles with fake foreign, non-standard, duplicate, ‘Applied for Registration’ or personalised number plates are being increasingly used in crimes, kidnappings and bomb attacks. The Sindh police and the E&T Department fail to recognise this link and refuse to apply techniques that could control or get rid of all unlawful vehicles. A major hurdle in this process is the Sindh government that is guilty of not having registered thousands of vehicles that are in its own use. The motor vehicle tax of those that are registered is not paid. These unlawful practices offer a huge opportunity to criminals who can unabashedly use fake, fancy or ‘lookalike’ government number plates to gain access to secure places or indulge in criminal activities. The police is often too scared to check vehicles that appear to be official, foreign registered or display plaques like ‘MNA’, ‘Commissioner’ etc.

Not celebrated for its efficient governance, the government of Sindh could turn around its vehicle management system (and image) by taking four simple steps. Begin by registering all delinquent government and police vehicles and display their registration details on the E&T website like all other vehicles. Next, enable police and citizens to access vehicle and tax related data directly through a short code SMS service. Thirdly, the E&T Department should introduce the facility for payment of motor vehicle tax through mobile phone money transfer schemes such as the ones described above. Finally, the Sindh police must be nudged to institutionalise and undertake the much neglected vehicle enforcement programme as an ongoing exercise.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2014.

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