LAHORE: Chief Minister’s Strategic Reforms Unit, in collaboration with excise and taxation department, is scheduled to launch customised vehicle number plates project today (Thursday) by awarding a contract to a foreign manufacturer.

The project is aimed at legalising customised specialty number plates for vehicles in Punjab following a set of specifications.

At present a few influential people use their names in place of the number plates issued by the government, which is, according to officials, illegal.

SRU, excise dept jointly launch project

The officials told Dawn on Wednesday that a foreign company had been selected following bidding process and Punjab Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) procedures.

The innovative “V-Plates” will be issued under the first venture pertaining to SRU and the excise department’s collaborative reform known as “Excise 2.0”.

Officials say V-Plates will provide a legal way to the citizens to customise number plates while ensuring that all security features are kept intact.

These plates to be authorised by excise department will be camera-readable and thereby traceable.

Each V-Plate will also have a unique serial number recorded at its rear. For the initiation period, V-Plates will belong to various categories, including corporate, personalised and those associated with different causes such as breast cancer awareness.

There will also be an option to customise number plates with national heroes (non-political nature).

Each V-Plate is to follow certain specifications for size that includes 520mm X 114mm, 372mm X 133mm. The existing number plate size for Punjab is 302mm X 152mm. The size for the two-wheelers is (front) 202mm X 65mm and (rear) 152mm X 130mm. Rickshaws will get 202mm X 152mm plates.

The V-Plates will carry retro-reflective material, uni-directional security marks, uniquely identified laser serial numbers, alongside embossed alphabets and numbers.

Under the revenue-sharing model of the initiative, 67 percent revenue will got to the government on purchase of each V-Plate and the remaining 33pc will be pocketed by the contracting company.

To acquire V-Plates, citizens will undergo corporate processes, including a comprehensive network ensuring timely provision of V-Plates, followed by effective customer support services.

The contracting company will use a software to manage the sales and supply of the V-Plates across Punjab, whilst officially registering them with the excise department.

It will set up kiosks and facilitation centres to streamline the plates issuance process, besides developing a user-friendly smart phone application to further allow citizens to easily customise and order V-Plates in accordance with their preference.

V-Plates will carry messages that are not offensive to any person, religion or cause.

The excise department will notify a committee in consultation with the SRU to evaluate and oversee the content requested by citizens for customising V-Plates. In case of any offensive content appearing on a V-Plate, the department will have the right to expunge it.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2017