ISLAMABAD: The district administration and capital police on Monday launched a campaign against unauthorised registration plates and vehicles installed with high energy discharge (HED) light.

A notification issued by Deputy Commissioner/Director General Excise and Taxation Islamabad Mushtaq Ahmed stated: “All Islamabad-registered vehicles would use official

number plates issued by the excise and taxation department with immediate effect and violators would be strictly proceeded against.”

Moreover, the director excise and taxation was ordered to proceed against owners of vehicles installed with the HED light. The director was also asked to submit a daily report.

An official said citizens preferred installing registration plates different in size and font from the ones officially specified. “Yes there is some delay in the issuance of registration plates which force motorists to get the plates prepared from private vendors,” said the official.

“First, new cars having no registration places are easily spotted by thieves and stolen. Second, after a 100-kilometre run, the traffic police fine the driver of a new car without number plates.”

So people prefer making registration plates from the market and install them on their new cars instead of waiting for the excise and taxation office (ETO).

Even after getting the officially made plates, the owner prefers using the ones made by the vendor because due to its poor quality the colour and alphabets of the registration plates issued by the ETO start peeling off within months, he added.

Besides, the owners of motorcycles prefer making a registration plate to be fixed in the front from private vendors as the ETO-issued plate is too big in size to be fixed there.

The official said light of different colours were available in the market and people installed them in their vehicles even though it is irritating for other motorists and pedestrians due to their sharpness.

The district administration also decided to ban the making of registration plates and sale of HED lights in the city. For this, a SOP would be prepared soon.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2015