A long queue of cars has formed from Islamabad’s Faizabad checkpoint all the way to the Expressway after the Interior Ministry, in a collaborative move with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), introduced electronic devices to check those entering the city.
The installation took the commuters by surprise since there was no prior announcement nor was there any awareness campaign. People were inconvenienced by an almost four-hour-long delay, causing employees and children to arrive late at offices and schools, respectively.
The new e-devices – Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) – serve the purpose akin to a toll tax plaza, wherein each car coming into Islamabad is checked for registration while the individual(s) riding it are verified against their computerised national identity card (CNIC).
Termed the second phase of Islamabad’s Safe City Project, this development takes forward from the first initiative wherein controlled cameras were installed around the city. The RFIDs, however, scan data from a chip placed on the corner of a vehicle’s windshield for verification against NADRA’s records.
The issue here, nevertheless, is that the chips have to be bought for cash and replaced every time the number of allotted visits into the city reaches zero. Therefore, the cost of a chip for a person is directly proportional to their number of visits.
This translates into a new expense for those travelling to and from Islamabad. It is noteworthy that over 70 percent of the commuters are on work-related trips; this means that it will be a higher burden on those who frequent the city on a daily basis.
Earlier, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar ordered to take down the toll tax plazas installed by the PPP government in its last tenure; the charge per entry at that time was Rs 5. However, the new development in a way brings the same charge in a new, tech-savvy manner.
The government has so far issued no official confirmation or notification of the RFID installation.
