The Excise and Taxation (E&T) department Rawalpindi has extended the deadline for submitting the vehicle token tax without penalty for the defaulters till June 30. According to an E&T spokesman, the last date for payment of token tax without penalty has been extended to facilitate the vehicle owners. Five percent special concession would be given to the vehicle owners, who would pay the token tax through e-Pay, he added. He warned that strict action in accordance with the law would be taken against token tax defaulters after June 30. He further informed that in order to ensure transparency during the transfer of ownership, the Excise and Taxation Department, Punjab will make the process of biometric verification mandatory for the transfer of vehicles from July 1. According to the new system, it will be mandatory for the buyers and sellers to appear at the office of excise and taxation to get their vehicle transferred which would be implemented from July 1. He also advised the vehicle owners to avail the opportunity and get the vehicles transferred to the buyer’s name without biometric verification before the deadline. To a question he said, the biometric verification system would help eliminate the tout mafia involved in preparing fake registration documents as the buyer and sellers would have to appear physically at the excise office to get their vehicle registered or transferred. The fingerprints of the owners of the vehicles shall be verified in real time from the online database of NADRA. According to the Assistant Excise and Taxation Officer (AETO) Rawalpindi Sohail Shahzad, Excise and Taxation Department, Punjab on the special directive of the Punjab government had announced a policy to facilitate vehicle and property tax owners. They can pay their property and vehicle token tax through e-pay online service to avoid hassle in the offices, he added. He informed that on the directives of Director Excise and Taxation Rawalpindi and Motor Registration Authority (MRA) Rawalpindi, solid steps were taken to facilitate the citizens who wanted to pay the taxes. He urged the citizens to avail the opportunity as this is their last chance and get their vehicles transferred on their names without biometric verification.