The Sindh Transport and Mass Transit Department has issued a formal directive ordering the complete digitization of all route permits and vehicle fitness certificates across the province by June 30, 2026, setting a hard deadline after which all manual permits and certificates will be declared invalid. The directive, issued on April 27, follows a meeting chaired by the department’s secretary and outlines a province-wide shift toward an automated transport regulatory system covering provincial, regional, and district transport authorities, as well as motor vehicle inspection wings, with field offices instructed to process at least 1,000 entries per day and coordinate data integration across all transport regulatory bodies. The move marks one of the most consequential transport sector reforms Sindh has undertaken in recent years, with the manual permit system that has long been criticised for enabling fraud and corruption now facing a definitive end date.
The notification warns that after the deadline, only digitised documents will be valid, and vehicles operating with manual permits or certificates shall be deemed non-compliant and subject to penalties. Under the automation process, all fitness certificates are now being issued digitally, and route permits for both inter-city and intra-city routes are also being provided through an automated system. The shift to digital certification addresses a long-standing vulnerability in the old system, where manual records were difficult to verify, easy to forge, and routinely manipulated by intermediaries who facilitated certification of unfit vehicles without proper inspection. The digital system stores information in a centralised location, allowing law enforcement to check a vehicle’s status instantly using scanning tools or apps, eliminating delays and reducing opportunities for corruption at inspection points.
Officials have been instructed to ensure all-out measures for complete digitisation within their jurisdictions and to advise transporters and vehicle owners to begin the registration process without delay, with field offices also directed to facilitate stakeholders and submit fortnightly progress reports. To increase public awareness, the directive orders that prominently placed banners be affixed at all field offices displaying the June 30, 2026 deadline. The urgency of the communication reflects the scale of the challenge: Sindh has a large and diverse vehicle population spread across urban centres and rural districts, and converting all existing permit holders to the new digital system within the available timeframe will require sustained administrative effort from district transport authorities across the province.
The context for this push is significant. In the previous year alone, the transport department issued challans to over 56,200 vehicles, collecting Rs820 million in fines from operators running unfit or improperly documented vehicles, a figure that underscores how widespread non-compliance had become under the manual system. With digital records making it far harder for vehicles from other provinces to obtain Sindh certifications without proper verification, and law enforcement now able to conduct instant compliance checks in the field, the province is putting in place the technical groundwork for a materially safer and more accountable transport ecosystem. Whether that groundwork translates into consistent enforcement on the ground will depend on how effectively field offices execute the transition in the weeks ahead.
Follow the SPIN IDG WhatsApp Channel for updates across the Smart Pakistan Insights Network covering all of Pakistan’s technology ecosystem.
