The Punjab Excise and Taxation Department has issued a notification regarding vehicle number plates.
Following the issuance of the notification official government-issued number plates are no longer mandatory for vehicles.
Citizens can now have their vehicle number plates made by any private shop or vendor and install them on their vehicles.
According to the notification the design and format of the number plate must strictly comply with the specifications approved by the Government of Punjab. If the design meets the approved standards the number plate will be considered legal.
The notification has also issued strict instructions to the Traffic Police Punjab not to demand original government-issued plates during checking nor to issue fines on this basis.
Additionally the department has officially stopped charging fees for the issuance of government number plates and has abolished the central manufacturing system.
Punjab bans purchase of petrol, diesel vehicles
Previously, the Punjab government decided to enforce a complete ban on the buying of petrol and diesel vehicles.
As per details that in a major move to promote environmentally friendly transportation in the province the Punjab government decided to completely prohibit the purchase of petrol and diesel powered vehicles in government departments.
Under the new policy, only electric or hybrid vehicles will be allowed for future procurement. However, the vehicles allocated for field duties have been exempted from this ban.
According to the Chief Secretary Punjab, promoting green energy is a top priority for environmental protection in the province and a new electric vehicle policy will be presented soon to provision this goal.
He said that the approval of no-objection certificates (NOCs) for new petrol pumps has now been made conditional on the installation of electric vehicle charging units, and no new petrol pump will be allowed to operate without an EV charging facility.
The Chief Secretary further stated that the installation of electric charging units has been made mandatory for 170 new petrol pumps that have received NOCs. These NOCs have been issued through the e-Biz portal for 170 new petrol pumps across 31 cities in the province.
Under this policy, 29 petrol pumps in Faisalabad, 14 in Lahore, 10 in Bahawalpur, and nine each in Khanewal and Bahawalnagar have been required to provide electric charging facilities. Similarly, eight petrol pumps each in Rawalpindi and Jhang, and seven each in Toba Tek Singh, Mianwali, Kasur, and Chiniot have been approved on the condition of installing electric vehicle charging units.
