Citizens are readily getting their vehicles registered with the federal Excise and Taxation Department owing to the fear of being intercepted by the police at police pickets in the twin cities. The capital city number plate also increases the value of vehicles, it is learnt.
“The registration of different kinds of vehicles in the Excise and Taxation Department has been increasing with each passing day for the last few years, as people from other parts of the country have also been getting their vehicles registered in Islamabad to avoid police checking in the big cities as well as to gain financial benefits,” said taxation department official.
The official said that during the current year, Excise and Taxation Department registered 38,000 vehicles. The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) have registered 227,319 vehicles since 1980 and there was an upward trend in registration of vehicles, which include motorcars, jeeps, taxis, ambulances, buses, trucks, motorcycles, water tankers, tractor and other vehicles, he said.
The official said that due to the rising trend of registration of vehicles from the capital city, the department had decided that people who had permanent residence in the city would be allowed to register their vehicles. “The decision to allow permanent residents of Islamabad registration is fruitless as people wrote the addresses of their relatives or friends on the document required for registration,” he said.
Citizens from districts externals to the capital, while standing outside the Excise and Taxation Department, said that the capital city number plate not only increased the value of their vehicles but also helped in avoiding police checking while entering the capital and other cities of the country. In the capital, police only checked those vehicles which had the vehicle registration number of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Karachi and other districts, they said.
The official from the taxation department said that out of the total vehicles registered in the last 31 years, the number of motorcars, jeeps and wagons remained at the top According to the official record, the highest number of vehicles were registered in the year 2011: 38,284.
The authority registered 412 vehicles in 1980,1354 in 1981, 2479 in1982, 2836 in1983, 4968 in 1984, 4480 in 1985,.4283 in 1986, 3559 in 1987, 3707 in 1988, 4609 in 1999, 7426 in 1990, 6920 in 1991, 8586 in 1992, 9291 in 1993, 9459 in 1994, 7960 in 1995, 8473 in 1996, 9510 in 1997, 8894 in 1998, 7367 in 1999, 6434 in 2000, 7388 in 2001, 7682 in 2002, 8793 in 2003, 23805 in 2004, 33311 in 2005, 33,311 in 2006, 45156 in 2007, 42322 in 2008, 32026 in 2009, 3620 in 2010 and 38284 in 20011.
The official said that the Excise and Taxation Department generated Rs 7.04 million from monthly vehicles registration fee from 2005 to 2011 till date, Rs 180 million generated from motor vehicle token tax, Rs 71 million of excise duty, Rs 2.6 million were generated from professional tax, Rs 0.3 from MVD and real estate agents, Rs 6,000 from Tobacco vend fee, Rs 0.56 million from Bed Tax, Rs 14,600 from capital value tax, Rs 137 million from income tax and Rs 289.5 million from advance tax.
