The Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) has generated over Rs 460 million in revenue through its streamlined issuance of driving licenses to citizens, Daily Times has learned reliably.
Despite this revenue achievement, the ITP has maintained confidentiality regarding the funds accumulated from penalties for traffic violations. According to official data, the department issued 288,459 challan tickets for various traffic infractions during the year 2024.
The issuance of licenses and enforcement of traffic regulations underscore the ITP’s dual role in promoting road safety and contributing to public funds. However, an official stated in the condition of anonymity, that making clear the revenue from traffic violations would enhance the transparency about accountability in the use of these funds.
As per available information, the ITP has issued as many as many as 64,395 driving licenses to the citizens during said period. The authority is supposed to issue all categories of driving license such as motorcar, LTV, HTV and PSV. On average, it charges Rs 10,000 against each license which is being issued after processing through prescribed procedure.
During 2024, the police has increased in its fee which was fixed for motor cars to Rs12, 000, Rs18, 000 for LTV, and Rs25,000 for HTV. While Rs 200 each has also been introduced as the mobile facilitation fee for availing the ‘licence on wheels’ service and medical fee respectively.
Although it didn’t mention the revenue that has been made through traffic fines but the detail of violations have been shared with this correspondent. According to which, as many as 1, 0500 challan tickets were imposed to the vehicle parking violators, over 64,100 tickets against unathorised number plates, over 17,800 against tinted glasses of vehicles, 16,500 for overloading and about 26,000 against lane violations. The ITP has two sources of imposing fine, one is manual that is issued to the violator on spot the other one is digitally generated fine which is linked with CCTVs of the safe city project.
In a development, the ITP removed the compulsion of having temporary or permanent residential address at the NIC of the applicant. Unlike previous, now any citizen of the country can get driving license without any discrimination.
The decision was taken by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi. According to the minister, provision of all possible facilities to the citizens of Islamabad was his top priority.
We have officially launched the service “license on wheel” to facilitate the issuance and renewal of learners and licenses to students of colleges and universities by visiting their educational institutions. The purpose of the service is to save time, the minister had said.
Meanwhile, the ITP asked owners to repair their smoke-emitting vehicles, warning that legal action would be taken against motorists involved in polluting environment. The ITP chief Muhammad Sarfraz Virk said in a statement that protecting and maintaining the environment was a collective responsibility.
He recalled in people walking in parks and on roads should not litter those places as it contributes to pollution. He urged citizens to act responsibly and, along with adhering to traffic rules, take care of environmental preservation and cleanliness in the city.
The traffic chief suggested the citizens to take responsibility for protecting the environment for future generations. “We must provide a clean and green future for our generations, and this is only possible when we make cleanliness part of our daily lives,” he added.