Relocation: Nine days on, ETO office still closed

Vehicle owners complain they could not benefit from lower fee.

ISLAMABAD:

As the revised registration and transfer fees for vehicles came into effect on Tuesday, many car owners who showed up at the Excise and Taxation Office (ETO), which remains closed, were disappointed they could no longer benefit from the lower fees due to its relocation or even to complete the paperwork.

As the ETO has been closed for the last nine days, two days past past the official announcement which had specified a week’s time for the relocation, hundreds of people who wished to pay the lower fee till the last day of June were turned away. The government announced an increase in the transfer and registration fee which was to be implemented from July 1 in the new fiscal year 2014-15.

According to an Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) official, a car owner will pay Rs10,000 to transfer an 850cc car, the transfer fee has been set at Rs30,000  for taxpayers and Rs40,000 for non-taxpayers on 1300cc. For a 1600cc car, the taxpayer will pay Rs50,000 and others will pay Rs100,000, while for a 1800cc car, the taxpayer will pay Rs75,000 and others will pay Rs150,000.

The visitors complained that they could not pay the lower fee due to the closure of the office and held the ICT administration responsible for the additional dent in their pockets. “The administration should have shifted the office later to enable visitors to take advantage of the lower fee, said another visitor Rasool Ahmed. The visitors demanded the government extend the date till July 31, so they could pay lower fees.

“Why did the administration close the office in the last week of June, knowing the decision would affect people?” questioned Muhammad Raza, a visitor waiting to transfer his vehicle.

An officer working in ETO said that the administration has yet to install a networking system in H-8 building and even the branch of a private bank where the fee is to be deposited is not yet functional, resulting in further delay.

ETO Director Nauman Yousaf said the office was still closed due to maintenance work. “We will try our best to facilitate owners who were affected due to the office’s closure,” he added. Asked why the office was relocated during the last days of June before the new fees come into effect, the official replied the office was closed for a week, but work could not be completed in time. He claimed the office would reopen in the next two days once work had been completed.

ETO registers and transfers thousands of vehicles and motorcycles annually and most people prefer to register their vehicles from the capital. An Excise and Taxation officer said some 300 transfer cases were pending with the department and the figure was excepted to climb due to the office’s temporary closure.

On June 23, the ICT administration closed ETO for a week to shift it to Sector H-8, since it was situated in the congested F-8 Markaz. ETO has switched places with a local government office. The decision was taken in the wake of twin attacks on the district courts in March, which killed 13 people including a judge.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2014.