A click away: E&T to launch text service for number plate related inquiries

Department to issue around 500,000 plates a month over the next three years.

LAHORE:

The Excise and Taxation (E&T) Department is set to launch an SMS-based code service to inform vehicle owners about the status of their number plates before the department starts issuing the plates in July, The Express Tribune has learnt.

A company, INBOX, has set up a facility at the E&T office to supply number plates over the next three years. It will emboss and hot stamp the plates free of cost.

Around 500,000 plates will be prepared each month over the next three years. The department says it hopes to clear the backlog of plates in a few months time.

The department had stopped issuing the plates to motorcycles in February 2012 and to cars in March 2013 citing unavailability. It had stopped accepting payment for new plates in May 2014.

According to E&T officials, about 4.3 million vehicles are yet to be issued number plates.

Of the new plates to be prepared, 0.25 million will be issued to newly registered vehicles and 0.25 million to clear the backlog.

The department says it expects thousands of inquiries daily once it starts issuing plates. It is introducing an SMS-based code service to respond to these queries.

A vehicle owner can obtain details and status of his/her number plate by sending the vehicle’s registration number, the owner’s identity card number and postal address to a four-digit code via text message.

A computer system will then execute the request and send back a text carrying the status of the number plate to the vehicle owner’s phone.

The company will start issuing between 20,000 and 30,000 plates in July. It will start issuing around 500,000 plates a month from August.

E&T Headquarters Director Irfan Khalid said he hoped the service would be operational in 20 days. He said the department had decided to launch the service as it expected a large number of inquiries when it started issuing plates.

“It will help vehicle owners find out the status of their number plates without visiting the E&T office,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2014.