Staff Reporter
Rawalpindi Excise and Taxation (E&T) Department has started issuing universal numbers for vehicles which is claimed a state of the art system and a revolutionary step that will help eliminate agent mafia and corruption.
According to Assistant Excise and Taxation Officer, Rawalpindi Sohail Shahzad, the system would help bring efficiency to the department and improve public service.
Instead of city codes, the universal number plate will be issued at the provincial level and the registration number in all the districts will have the same value.
He said, the universal number plates and their e-auction system had been inaugurated to facilitate people.
The serial numbers of all the districts had been abolished, he said adding, the vehicles would be issued registration numbers starting from AAA1 to 999 while motorcycle serial numbers would be issued from 1001 to 9999 with AAA.
Similarly, the commercial vehicles would be assigned the serial CAA and issued numbers from 1 to 9999. The serial number of the government vehicles would start from GAA with numbers from 1 to 998 while the SAA serial would be issued to semi-government vehicles with 1 to 998 numbers.
The excise department had adopted smart technology for the new project, he added.
The universal registration number system would benefit the people belonging to any city of the province as the resale value of vehicles of any district would be same.
On the other hand, the burden on the big cities’ registration offices would also reduce. To another question he said, the number plates issued already would not change.
With the e-auction, people would no longer have to go to any excise and taxation office to get their preferred number. The applicants would be able to deposit the money by pay order or online.
He said, the department on the directives of Director General (DG) Excise Punjab Ch. Masood ul Haq and Director Rawalpindi Region, had made all the arrangements here to facilitate citizens.
He said, earlier the series of motor vehicle registration numbers was assigned in each category at the district level. The year of registration was printed on the number plate and the alphanumeric scheme was repeated every year.
In case of a road accident or crime, it was often difficult to note the number of vehicle completely. He said, there was also pressure of registration in the big cities due to the attractive resale market.
The universal registration series would address these issues as well as ensuring convenience for the applicants. The universal registration numbers would eliminate the obstacles in resale of vehicles as the registration number issued by all the districts of the province would have the same value.
