ISLAMABAD: The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has found that an agreement between Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) and the National Police Foundation (NPF) for the collection and retention of service charges was unauthorised.

According to the audit report, the ITP imposed fines totaling Rs617,846,820 through 740,796 tickets on traffic violators. However, data on service charges deducted was not provided to audit. Based on available information, the estimated service charges amounted to Rs19,532,955.

The audit observed that the NPF entered into an agreement with ITP as a technical partner for upgrading the web portal and e-challan application to improve services for traffic violators. It noted that NPF is not a financial institution and is not authorised to directly collect service charges from violators on each transaction, unlike the National Bank of Pakistan.

It further stated that the NPF does not hold a digital bank or digital financial services license from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), and concurrence from the Finance Division was not obtained. The agreement was also made without open competition, in violation of PPRA Rules 2004.

The audit termed the arrangement unauthorised, stating that the contract should have been awarded through open competition with approval from the Finance Division.

The management did not respond until the finalisation of the report. The audit recommended that the current arrangement be replaced through competitive bidding and proper approvals.

The AGP also noted that ITP issued traffic violation tickets through the e-challan system, with Rs617,225,862 deposited under Head C-02638 during FY 2024–25.

It observed that monthly reconciliation of fines collected was not carried out with the Federal Treasury Office (FTO), calling it a violation of financial rules. Audit recommended submission of reconciliation records and ensuring regular monthly reconciliation in future.

In another observation, the audit report stated that Safe City Islamabad issued 47,730 e-challans amounting to Rs30,941,400 during the financial year. Out of this, Rs9,836,500 related to 12,852 e-challans was recovered.

The audit noted that 34,878 e-challans amounting to Rs21,104,900 remained recoverable due to lack of an early recovery mechanism.

It further stated that Safe City Islamabad was not fully integrated with provincial, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan excise and taxation databases (except Islamabad and Punjab), limiting enforcement across all vehicle registrations. It also noted a lack of reconciliation to ensure all fines were properly deposited during vehicle transfers or token fee payments.

The audit raised concerns over the absence of a clearly provided legal mechanism for imposing e-challan fines, terming it a serious lapse that may have affected public revenue.

The management responded that fine collection is an ongoing process as violators pay at their convenience. It added that Rs19,308,500 out of Rs32,587,200 had been collected under e-challans in FY 2023–24.

It further stated that Safe City Islamabad is already integrated with Islamabad and Punjab excise systems, while efforts are underway to integrate data from other provinces. Requests have been sent to Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan for API-based integration.

The management accepted the audit observations. Audit recommended recovery of outstanding amounts and nationwide system integration for e-challans.

Officials of the capital police and NPF were approached for comments but either declined or did not respond.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2026