The Islamabad Excise and Taxation Department has introduced a series of digital reforms to improve services related to vehicle registration, ownership transfers, and token tax payments. These measures include the rollout of personalised number plates, digital registration cards, and enhancements to the City Islamabad mobile application, all aimed at simplifying procedures and reducing the need for physical visits to government offices.
Director Excise and Taxation Department Islamabad, Bilal Azam, shared that the department is working to enhance convenience for citizens both at their doorstep and through digital means. With over 1.42 million vehicles currently registered, he emphasised that managing such volumes manually is no longer feasible, and digitisation has eased the administrative burden by allowing remote access to key services. The department is leveraging the Islamabad Citizen App to facilitate token tax payments from home, improving both tax collection and service delivery.
One of the key upgrades is the launch of a personalised number plate system, which is the first of its kind in Pakistan. Under this initiative, registration numbers will be associated with the vehicle owner instead of the vehicle itself. When a vehicle is sold, the personalised plate will return to the seller, and a new plate will be issued to the buyer. This approach is expected to support law enforcement agencies with easier tracking of ownership, enforcement of e-challans, and more accurate vehicle data management.
Additionally, the department is shifting from physical smart cards to fully digital vehicle registration cards, which will be linked to the NADRA-managed Pak-ID account of each user. Once a vehicle ownership transfer is initiated through the app and biometric verification is completed, the buyer will receive their registration card digitally within their Pak-ID profile. The department is also working to enable mobile-based biometric verification, allowing ownership transfers to be completed entirely from mobile devices without in-person office visits.
Azam explained that the department is encouraging timely token tax payments and offering a 10% rebate on payments made within July. He noted that many older vehicles from the 1980s and 1990s lack tax records and have not had any transactions in decades. Despite repeated public notices, registrations for unresponsive owners have been cancelled. For vehicles that have skipped payments for two to three years, a 50% penalty is applied, while longer delinquencies incur a 100% penalty to incentivise compliance.
The upgraded City Islamabad app simplifies user interaction by allowing vehicle owners to register, input their vehicle number, and generate a PSID (Payment Slip ID) to pay fees through any online banking service. The app also differentiates between filer and non-filer citizens to apply the correct tax rate automatically.
Azam said the reforms aim to ensure that every vehicle in Islamabad is properly registered and taxed, which in turn enhances overall governance and supports law enforcement. By transitioning to digital services, the department hopes to offer faster, more transparent, and user-friendly experiences while reducing reliance on manual systems.
