PESHAWAR, April 27: The NWFP excise and taxation department has launched a campaign to check unregistered vehicles plying illegally with “Applied For” (APL) plates.

Mohammad Nasir Khan, director-general of the department, told Dawn he had directed staff of the department concerned to check and round up vehicles illegally plying with APL plates. He said he had given three days to the staff for the purpose.

“It is becoming a security problem and, therefore, we have to take action,” Mr Khan said, noting that there was an uptick in the number of vehicles plying without proper registration, carrying only “APL6”.

The lack of enforcement of existing laws by agencies concerned, including the excise and traffic department, has encouraged vehicle owners to avoid registration which entails hefty fee.

Officials in the excise department said it had become fashion to drive around in an APL6 vehicle. They said people also used such plates because they thought it would increase the sale value of their vehicles.

But security officials are worried that the increasing number of APL6 vehicles has become a serious security problem.

“There is no way one can trace a car with that kind of plate involved in a crime,” said one official, adding that people also did this to avoid paying taxes and registration fee. The problem is endemic involving brand new vehicles and their number is growing.

Mr Khan said he was not only concentrating on checking the problem but was also trying to ensure that new registration plates issued by his department had all security features required to trace a vehicle and its owner. “We are creating a computerized data bank of registered vehicles and connecting all districts.”

The new registration plates, he said, contained security hologram, laser-branded serial control, number monograms, security watermark and ultra-violet security mark.