THE Sindh Excise and Taxation Depar-tment has recently ordered the replace-ment of all the existing number plates of private and commercial vehicles in the province with new plates by April 3.

This involves a change of number plates for three million vehicles in a period of just over three months. Every motorist who has already paid for the previous number plates is being asked to pay Rs2,450 again for the new number plates.

This implies that the department is fleecing the motorists to the tune of a whopping amount of Rs7.35 billion. There is no justification for charging the cost to the motorists who are already paying a plethora of taxes to the government.

Besides, the change of all number plates in such a short time is a practically impossible task, considering the track record of the department, which issued thousands of number plates from ‘BHA’ to ‘BHR’ and other registration series with a delay of three to five years.

The relevant department needs to give a realistic deadline of at least 12 months for the change of vehicle number plates. Furthermore, the cost of the new number plates should be borne by the government, and should be adjusted against the rather hefty motor vehicle tax that all the motorists continue to pay every year.

Aamir Malik
Karachi

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2025