Owing to a recent surge of coronavirus cases across the county, the Excise & Taxation Department (E&TD) Islamabad on Wednesday asked the concerned citizens to avoid visiting their office and instead avail online facility. In a statement, Director E&TD Bilal Azam requested citizens to avoid visit of the office as much as they could in a bid to control the spread of virus. “Approach us through online application or helpline numbers 051-90395386/051-2775386 our team would visit on your doorstep for vehicle registration,” Azam asked citizens who wanted to get their vehicles registered. Likewise, he said, those who wanted to transfer their vehicles should get an online appointment before visit of the office that, he claimed, necessary for public health safety. He further requested that despite all this, if any citizen deems visit to the E & TD office is inevitable, he/she should come with proper precautionary measures; sanitize hands, wear face masks and only one person who is most relevant would be allowed to visit the office. “Due to this we instructed security staff at the entrance that every visitor would be allowed to enter only after proper checking of their respective work at office,” Azam explained. According to the Director, the department first time in joint collaboration with National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) started vehicle registration service at the doorstep, to facilitate the general public. Through this service, the applicants can call on the call center and take an appointment for this service and after which a team will visit the residence of the applicant for completion of the due process and the applicant’s vehicles will be then are registered at their doorstep. Due to this service during the COVID-19, he claimed, the department has generated revenue as well other than the public’s ease. He recalled that the department has initiated the online appointment system for registration/transfer of vehicles as well which received excellent public feedback. “The general public can post the registration/transfer form online, after initial data entry the system has generated an appointment number and also intimate at which time and date he will approach the office for registration/ transfer of vehicle a separate counter has also been designated in the premises for the said purpose,” he explained.