News item in daily News dated 10/6/06
Nadra yet to introduce anti-car-lifting system
ISLAMABAD: Vehicle Identification Tracking System (VITS), developed by the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) to curb car lifting a year ago, is yet to be introduced anywhere in Pakistan.
"There is no willing taker of the dirt cheap but excellent system because of the handiwork of the vested interests," an official told The News. He said that private tracking companies and excise and taxation departments were main stakeholders of the vested interests.
Nadra is so far running only a pilot project in Karachi with the approval of the Sindh government. Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim has agreed to adopt VITS to get rid of ever increasing car theft in Karachi. But he is yet to give a formal approval to the proposal that is lying with him in black and white, the official said.
He added that the Nadra was in a position to introduce the system in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) or any province provided its government agreed. The Nadra will just charge one-time Rs 1000 to bring a vehicle into its detecting system. Additionally, a sum of Rs 200 will go to the excise and taxation department.
The official said the Nadra would paste a VIN (vehicle identification number0 tag on the windscreen of the vehicle. If someone tried to remove or smash it, the tag will promptly burn and the system will instantly issue an alarming about the happening.
The private tracking companies, which are charging Rs50,000 (down from Rs75,000) plus an annual fee running into thousands of rupees would not like the inexpensive Nadra system to be put in place, the official said.
He said that cameras would be installed at all the entry and exit points of major cities and towns, where the VITS would be introduced. It will monitor each and every vehicle passing through them.
Similar gadgets would also be installed at focal places with the help of police and other law enforcement agencies through which stolen vehicles could slip away. The official said that motorcycles could also be covered by the VITS in the same manner as vehicles.
In the case of Karachi, he said, police, Rangers and other law enforcement agencies appreciated the VITS when presentations were made to them about it.
The main monitoring system is installed at Nadra's office in Islamabad, which would work round the clock and act within no time whenever a lifted car was reported. The movements of vehicles passing the cameras would automatically be relayed to this centre.
The official said that computerization of all vehicles through VITS would also minimize the fraud in the registration of vehicles. In some cases, he said, more than one registration book has been issued for the same vehicle. Excise and taxation departments fear that they would stand exposed if VITS was applied. The official said that a lot of research was done to develop the error-free inexpensive system.
