Legalising illegal vehicles in G-B

Non-customs paid vehicles to be regularised after paying certain amount as duty.

GILGIT: The Federal Customs Department has sought details of non-customs paid (NCP) vehicles from Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) administration, sources in the provincial government told The Express Tribune.

The move aims at regularising non-customs paid vehicles brought in the area, said an official of the provincial government, requesting not to be named. He said that many NCP vehicles are registered with the G-B Police’s Registration Department, but they do not have the data of new vehicles brought in illegally.

The official said that to regularise NCP vehicles, owners will be asked to pay a certain amount as duty.

The amount of duty to be charged will be decided by the Customs Department in consultation with the G-B government.

According to sources, there are approximately 6,000 to 7,000 NCP vehicles in Gilgit-Baltistan, most of which are registered with the local police which issue temporary registration numbers with blue coloured licence plates.

The sources added that these vehicles were brought into the province from Swat, Malakand and Chitral every year despite dozens of police checkposts on the Karakoram Highway.

The Gilgit-Baltistan Finance Minister Mohammad Ali Akhtar had earlier told the Tribune that the provincial legislative assembly would legislate on how to legalise the NCP vehicles.

G-B’s Supreme Appellate Court had also asked the government to take steps for the regularisation of NCP vehicles in the region, which are considered a “security threat” by the police.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2010.