KARACHI: A large number of unregistered vehicles are plying on roads not only in Karachi, but also in other parts of the province, with fake ‘AFR’ number plates because of host of reasons ranging from ‘a particular mindset’ to the Sindh government’s ‘lack of seriousness and will’ to deal with the problem, officials and sources said on Thursday.

They added that law enforcers faced difficulties when such ‘AFR’ number plate vehicles were found involved in crimes or accidents.

These vehicles are being driven right under the nose of the police but nothing is being done to stop them. It is primarily the responsibility of the Traffic police to take action against such vehicles containing fake number plates but they often turned a blind eye towards the gross violation of law.

Sources said that almost all those vehicles having ‘AFR 2021’ or ‘AFR 2022’ number plates are in fact unregistered automobiles, and can be categorised as the ones plying on road with ‘fake’ number plates.

Authorities’ non-seriousness, resale profit of newly-registered vehicles termed main reason of traffic rules violation

They said that presently there were hundreds if not thousands of such vehicles in the metropolis running along 4x4s bearing number ‘AFR 2021’ or ‘AFR 2022’.

A number of them could be seen having green-coloured fake government number plates inscribed with these illegal numbers.

Regular process takes months

Officials said the Sindh government excise department usually took ‘months’ to deliver an official number plate to an applicant.

However, they added that there was no justification for plying a vehicle with AFR number plate because the moment anyone applies for the registration and pays the required fee, he or she is immediately given a licence/registration number.

“This registration number is supposed to be displayed on the front and the back of a vehicle till an official number plate is issued,” an official said.

‘Real’ purpose**

However, apparently the real purpose of driving vehicles with AFR number is that many people do not want to register their vehicle as long as they can get away with it because they believed that by doing so, they can delay the registration of their vehicle so at the time of selling such a motor vehicle, it technically remains an ‘unregistered’ one, and can be sold at higher prices.

So, even if a vehicle is purchased, say, in year 2020 or 2021, and sold in 2022, and the new buyer gets it registered, it will be taken as a ‘2022 registered vehicle’.

The sources said it was an ‘illegal act and a huge fraud’.

They pointed out that during this entire period the government was deprived of not only the one-time registration fee, but also the annual motor vehicle tax.

Thus the government was being deprived of ‘millions’ of rupees every year because of that fraud, the sources said.

They added that another important issue was that there was no way to catch such a vehicle if it became involved in a crime, or a road accident, especially in a hit-and-run.

Suppose such a car hits another vehicle, and ran away, the complainant cannot do anything about it as the AFR number plate is a fake number, and there is no way to identify or trace the vehicle. Thus no FIR can be registered against it.

The sources wondered that at a time when the traffic police were keep talking about various measures like removing tinted films from vehicles window glasses, etc, or indulge in booking motorcycle riders for minor road law violations, they were allowing vehicles with fake ‘AFR number’ to roam around freely on roads.

Monetary benefit

DIG-Traffic Karachi Ahmed Yar Chohan admitted that the main reason behind this practice of plying vehicles with AFR number was a “particular thinking, or a mindset of people that they could get more money by resale of the vehicle”.

He claimed that these people got ‘psychological satisfaction’ that their vehicle would fetch more money compared to the same model registered in earlier years.

He regretted that this particular thinking prevailed not only in Karachi, but also in other parts of Sindh.

He recalled that when he was posted in Qambar district as an SSP, it was reported that 50pc motorbikes lifted by criminals in Qambar and Larkana contained ‘AFR’ number plates.

And when he asked the robbery victims, they gave the lame excuse of being ‘poor’ for unable to get their vehicle registered although they purchased a brand new motorbike.

The city traffic police chief opined that another reason behind such AFR vehicles was the government’s carelessness.

He suggested that the government, particularly the excise department, should make it mandatory to get a car transferred immediately in case of a sale.

He said several vehicles were running on ‘open letter’ and in case of any crime or an accident, the law enforcers faced ‘difficulty’ to take culprits to task.

Mandatory registration

He proposed that legislation should be introduced to make it mandatory for registration of cars within 15 days by showroom owners.

Replying to a question as to why traffic police were not taking action against such vehicles, the DIG claimed that the police from time to time took action against such vehicles.

He conceded that when they take action against such vehicles, certain segments of society regrettably approach the police for giving them a ‘favour’ by releasing their vehicles. “This is a big problem,” he added.

He opined that police could do ‘fire fighting’ but it was up to the government to curb this practice through legislation or other concrete measures.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2022