KARACHI, Oct 23: The motor vehicle registration of rickshaws with two-stroke engines has been stopped and the owners of existing ones had been asked to get their vehicle converted into four-stroke engine by July 2007 or their registration will not be renewed.

This was stated by an official of the Sindh ministry of excise and taxation while talking to Dawn. He said that the decision had been taken in line with the government policy to control pollution.

He said that about 7,171 new vehicles of all types were registered with the excise department during the first quarter of FY07 in Karachi. According to the statistics released by the department the number of vehicles registered during the current quarter stood at 45,189 against 38,018 vehicles registered during the first quarter of last year. The Sindh excise department collected Rs437.2 million from motor vehicle tax during the first quarter of FY07 against Rs436 million collected during the last quarter. The entire yearly vehicle tax collection for FY2006 stood at Rs1,745.2m against Rs1,378.45 million during the FY05.

The official said that to promote transport system in the province the vehicle tax rates had been rationalised. The tax for an additional seat in a vehicle had been reduced from Rs400 to Rs200 in the new budget.

The department, he said, has requested the National Bank of Pakistan to make arrangements for vehicle tax collection in additional five to 10 branches. Presently, vehicle tax is collected by 11 branches of the bank.

He said that special excise teams will start checking of registration documents of vehicles in cooperation with the Traffic Police after Eid. Commercial vehicles with heavy default would be impounded, while registration documents of vehicles with minor default would be confiscated. The checking will be carried out at 15 selected spots in the city.

He further said that the scheme of registration of vehicles with personalised number plates had been abandoned because of the problems in road checking by police. The owners have been asked to take refund of Rs25,000 paid for the facility. The amount could be adjusted against vehicle tax at the rate of 10 per cent per year, he added.

Replying a question, the official said that the department discouraged practice by some owners to use a vehicle purchased by them on "Open Letter." For this reason transfer of vehicle fee had been kept at the minimum to encourage new owners to get the vehicle registered in their name, he added.

The transfer fee for a 800cc car is just Rs650, followed by Rs800 for cars up to 1,000cc and Rs1,000 for cars above 1,000cc. The transfer fee for a motorcycle is just Rs125.

Ambulances, coffin carriers and vans and cars used by charitable organisations and the disabled persons are exempted from motor vehicle tax.