The Bank of Punjab has rejected an Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) report carried by Pakistan Today headlined “All CM’s Yellow cabs become private cars!”
According to a press statement, BoP said the scheme was launched for the benefit of unemployed youth in Punjab. The scheme was advertised and the government received 70,000 applications from all 36 districts of the province. Of these 35,000 applicants were selected through five different ballots as per the quota of each tehsil/district. The antecedents of all the successful candidates were scrutinized by the district governments. After scrutiny more than 25,000 candidates were provided a 15-day driver training course at NLC/Motorway Police training institutes. The candidates who cleared these two phases were processed by the bank for loans as per the internal guidelines. The whole process was done in a transparent manner without favor.
So far almost 19000 vehicles have been distributed as per assigned quota to the unemployed youth. They are using these to earn an honest living and have been paying their rentals on a timely basis. The individuals are strongly advised against the misuse of the vehicles. It is a contractual obligation of the lessee to maintain the color scheme of the taxi. Altered vehicles are subject to confiscation and are released only after payment of a hefty fine and restoration of the vehicle to its original condition. The bank has confiscated 165 vehicles because of alteration. This action has sent a message to the individuals against misuse of the facility.
