GUJRAT: Inordinate delay in issuance of registration cards and number plates by the Punjab excise and taxation department has resulted in a huge backlog of applicants who have been waiting for registration of their vehicles in the district for almost six months.

Despite depositing all the government taxes and dues, the owners of these vehicles have been facing problems because of non-issuance of registration cards and official number plates.

A senior official in the motor registration branch of the local excise and taxation office told Dawn that hundreds of complaints had been lodged with the Prime Minister’s Citizens Portal regarding the non-issuance of registration cards and number plates. These complaints were forwarded by the local E&T office to the Punjab director general, excise and taxation, but to no avail, he added.

Dealers claim the backlog swells to 30,000 applications

An official of the association of motorbike dealers claimed at least 18,000 to 20,000 owners of motorbikes and around 10,000 cars and auto-rickshaws etc had been waiting for their registration documents so that their vehicles could be secured against theft and traffic challans.

He said the delay in issuance of registration cards was also causing a huge loss to the dealers who were already hit by the recession in the market as well as the tax reforms introduced by the government.

Another official said such a huge backlog had earlier been observed in 2012 when the applicants had to wait for more than an year for registration of their vehicles. He added that hundreds of the number plates of motorbikes issued in 2012 were still lying in the local excise office as the applicants never returned after lapse of two years.

As per law no vehicle could ply on the road without bearing a registration number plate on front and rear side of the vehicle.

The applicants have been given an official paper bearing the stamp of the excise office as an evidence that they had applied for the registration.

An official of the local motor registration branch said the backlog existed allover Punjab and Gujrat was no exception, adding the authorities concerned had been informed of the issue time and again.

He held the firm given the contract for supplying registration cards and official number plates of the vehicles responsible for the situation.

The applicants deplore that the situation is also resulting in corruption and malpractices by the E&T officials and is a “proof of poor governance”.

They have urged the Punjab chief minister and other authorities to take serious notice of the situation and ensure measures to resolve the issue.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2019