The chip carries the vehicle’s registration number, chassis number, colour and the status of token fee. The signal it transmits allows a vehicle to be tracked. PHOTO: COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG
The Excise and Taxation (E&T) Department has decided to introduce radio-frequency identification (RFID) to check vehicle theft, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The department tested an RFID chip on a vehicle at the E&T office this week, a department official said. Another demonstration would be arranged soon, he said.
The chip carries the vehicle’s registration number, chassis number, colour and the status of token fee. The signal it transmits allows a vehicle to be tracked.
“The E&T secretary has issued a verbal order to test the system… a notification is yet to be issued,” E&T Department Database Administrator Khurram Mukhtar told The Express Tribune.
However, some E&T officials said introducing RFID chips would be difficult.
Installing chips on all the vehicles in the province would require a huge amount of money and could take several years, they said requesting anonymity.
They said the project would cost the department billions of rupees even if one chip cost Rs100.
They said the department should instead introduce the Automated Number Plate Recognition System (ANPRS), a project the authorities had previously worked on to install cameras on the entry/exit points of the city.
The system, according to the officials, was more practical and viable.
They said cameras could read the licence plates of vehicles which could subsequently be used to gather the related information online.
The Lahore police had first introduced the ANPRS by installing two cameras on Ravi Bridge in April 2011. The cameras were connected with the E&T Department database.
E&T Department Director Irfan Khalid said the RFID chips did not need battery support. He said the RFID worked like the e-tag system of the National Highway and Motorway Police.
The E&T director said the ANPRS had some limitations. “Unlike the RFID chips, cameras usually do not work properly in wet conditions.”
Asked if it was feasible to install chips in such a large number of vehicles, he said, “We have to start somewhere. If the system is a success, we will start installing chips in new vehicles.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 31st, 2014.
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They are going to track the movement of private cars? There will no privacy left anymore.