KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Monday passed the Sindh Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2025.

Under the amended law, a 50 per cent discount will be given on e-tickets if paid within 14 days. If the fine is not paid within 90 days, the driving licence will be suspended. If the fine remains unpaid after 180 days, the defaulter’s computerised national identity card will be blocked and the vehicle will be confiscated.

The amendment allows appeals against e-tickets or fixed penalty notices to be filed at the Traffic Facilitation Centre within 10 days.

A committee comprising the SP, DSP and Citizens-Police Liaison Committee representatives will decide the appeal within 10 days. If accepted, the e-ticket will be cancelled and no penalty points will be applied. If rejected, the ticket will take effect from the date of the committee’s decision.

House pays homage to fallen policemen

The government will designate judicial magistrate courts as traffic courts after consultation with the judiciary.

Police Martyrs’ Day

The house unanimously passed a resolution to pay tribute to police personnel who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.

Speaking on the resolution, tabled by Pakistan Peoples Party’s Farooq Awan, lawmakers paid rich tributes to the police martyrs.

Home Minister Zia Lanjar said the house honoured all police martyrs on the occasion of Police Martyrs’ Day, adding that their sacrifices would not go in vain, as nations never forget their heroes.

“The outstanding deeds of the martyrs and the eternal stories of bravery have become the golden chapter of the Sindh Police,” he said.

Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said the provincial police had played an exemplary role across Sindh since 2008. He said that this was the same force which, when granted a free hand by the government, had achieved historic success in restoring law and order in the province.

Opposition Leader Ali Khurshidi said the martyrs of the police and other security forces were a source of national pride. He urged the government to equip the police with modern weapons so that they could perform their duties more effectively.

‘Water woes’

The Sindh Assembly was informed that the managing director of the Karachi Water & Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) would be summoned to the house to discuss the city’s ongoing water shortage. This came amid renewed concern from opposition lawmakers, who raised the issue yet again.

Responding to a call attention notice from Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Amir Siddiqui, a parliamentary secretary said the water utility chief would appear before the assembly to address the chronic water crisis in several areas of Karachi. He assured the opposition leader that strict action would be taken against officials found to be involved in issuing any illegal water connections.

Mr Siddiqui highlighted the severe water shortage in his constituency, alleging that KWSC officials were issuing illegal connections in exchange for bribes. He lamented that despite raising the issue through six call attention notices, the problem remained unresolved.

The parliamentary secretary responded that the matter would be strictly investigated. He acknowledged that the water line and pumping machinery in Siddiqui’s constituency were outdated. “An application for a special feeder for the pumping station in the area has been submitted to K-Electric for uninterrupted operation of the water pumping”, he added.

Muhammad Owais of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-backed Sunni Ittehad Council said in his attention notice that town chairmen used the funds themselves while councillors were being totally ignored. He also demanded that the audit report should also be submitted with the councillor’s signature.

The parliamentary secretary said that the Sindh Assembly itself had increased the money to empower the local council. “This money is not given to any specific person but to the council”, he said, adding that if any councillor had any complaint, it might be lodged with the Local Government Board for action.

PTI member Wajid Hussain, in his call to attention, said that the road in his constituency was in a dilapidated condition and it had been reduced due to parking and billboards.

Parliamentary Secre­tary for Local Government Qasim Siraj Soomro said that the road belonged to the KMC and its repair work had been delayed due to the monsoon and gas lines.

Replying to a call attention notice by MQM-P’s Quratul Ain Khan, Excise Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla said that the government was considering extending the deadline for new vehicle number plates in the province.

He said that the new number plates were for the entire Sindh and the government decision would be strictly implemented across the province, adding that new centres would be opened in Korangi, Site and Gulshan-i-Iqbal within two to three months.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2025