KARACHI, Aug 21: The excise and taxation department has decided to introduce new number plates with inbuilt security features in line with the international standards to prevent tampering with numbers for vehicles snatched or used in terrorist activities.
The decision was taken on the instruction of the home department and the police.
Motor Vehicle Registration (MVR) Director Dabeer Ahmed Khan gave no timeframe for new number plates. However, he said that owners of over three million registered vehicles would be invited to get new number plates after surrendering the old ones as soon as arrangements to manufacture number plates with inbuilt laser serial number and embedded Sindh government monogram were finalized.
The move to adopt number plates with special inbuilt security features has been started after the home department`s directive on arms licences, which would now be computerised and would be issued by the National Database Registration Authority replacing the existing licences issued on a prescribed proforma which are prone to tampering with.
The MVR director recalled that the number plates of cars would be changed for a third time as such measures had also been taken in 1977 and 1992.
He said that the inbuilt security features number plates had already been introduced in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and security agencies had strongly recommended for such number plates in Sindh, which by far registers the highest number of vehicles in the country.
They believe that generally old and redundant vehicles were used in terrorist activities as their number plates were easy to tamper with.
The change of vehicles number plates would also help update the database of vehicles registered with the MVR.
Mr Dabeer said that a large number of vehicles had been burnt in rioting over the years and another good number of old vehicles were abandoned by their owners, who never bothered to inform the department that their vehicle was not in use.
The MVR database includes vehicles registered as long as in 60s and 70
s, which by all technical standards must have been abandoned by their owners after selling their parts and sending the rotten chassis to junkyard.
Meanwhile, the MVR department has decided to suspend registration of vehicles whose owners fail to pay tax for three consecutive years.
The grace period for suspension of registration of commercial vehicles on non-payment would be two years.
The department in a pilot exercise suspended registration of 40 per cent of the vehicles out of 20,000 units whose owners did not respond to the notices issued for suspension of registration. However, Mr Dabeer said that owners of 60 per cent vehicles on notice paid tax and saved their registration.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Motor Dealers Association (PMDA) has welcomed the MVR move to introduce security featured number plates which would reduce instances of snatching of cars.
PMDA chairman H M Shahzad suggested that the MVR should also pay attention towards securing engine and chassis numbers of vehicles, which were also prone to tampering with and help in disposal of stolen cars.
He urged the MVR department to expedite its plan to introduce security featured number plates which could be provided to begin with to the owners of 200 new vehicles presented for registration daily.
New car number plates on the cards | Metropolitan | DAWN.COM