To facilitate the citizens, the Punjab Government, in December 2018, announced that it will be issuing smart vehicle registration cards which would replace the traditional vehicle registration books.
To manufacture these smartcards, blank cards with Near Field Communication Chips (NFC) were to be bought from China, while a special lamination paper was to be imported from the USA.
Unfortunately, the drive to issue smart vehicle registration cards was stopped just after issuance of 880,000 cards due to non-payment to the card company tasked with the production of the cards, leaving 700,000 applications unprocessed.
Since then, there was little development making the car owners increasingly frustrated. For months, the car owners were told that owing to the shortage in supply, they are not being issued smart vehicle registration cards.
Thankfully, the concerned Minister and Secretary of the Excise Department have taken notice of the issue and decided to resume the issuance of the smart cards by taking emergency steps. After clearing the outstanding dues of the card manufacturing companies, it has been directed to expedite the issuance of the smart cards.
According to the company tasked with manufacturing the cards, the authorities have directed to use machines 24/7 for the next 5 weeks and ensure the issuance of the remaining 700,000 cards.
Much to the relief of the car owners, the company has purchased material that will be sufficient to manufacture 2 million cards. Furthermore, 170,000 cards will be issued in the next two days.
