New number plates: small traders decry ‘aggressive’ traffic police drive

KARACHI: Leaders of the All Pakistan Organisation of Small Traders and Cottage Industries Karachi have urged the Chief Justice of Sindh to take suo motu notice of what they term a “broad daylight robbery” of Rs8 billion, being extracted from Karachi’s citizens and traders under the pretext of replacing motorcycle number plates with newly designed Ajrak-themed ones.

In a joint statement issued on Wednesday by President Mehmood Hamid, Vice President Javed Abdullah, Syed Naveed Ahmed, and General Secretary Usman Sharif, the trader leaders said that the new number plate campaign has turned into an excuse for bribery and exploitation by police. They called on the judiciary to protect citizens from this rampant misuse of authority.

They alleged that the Sindh government has started collecting Rs1,850 per motorcycle for new number plates. They said without paying a briber of Rs2,500 to agents, obtaining these plates is nearly impossible. “This is despite the fact that at the time of purchase, the government already collects an advance tax on motorcycles, which includes the cost of number plates. Charging citizens twice is unlawful,” the statement said.

They further alleged that around 3.2 million motorcycles in Karachi are being targeted under this scheme, and that a crackdown has already begun on the megacity’s roads, with traffic police reportedly stopping and fining riders aggressively. “Traffic police have left all other duties and are now only focused on confiscating motorcycles and issuing challans,” they said, accusing officers and officials of looting the public with both hands.

They expressed outrage over reports that applicants who submitted requests for the new plates last year have yet to receive them, while the enforcement drive continues unabated. Describing the entire process as unjust, they demanded an immediate halt to the fines and confiscations, calling the ongoing penalties and detentions “oppressive.”

The trader representatives emphasised that motorcycles are the primary mode of transport for the megacity’s poor and lower-middle class, including small business owners who use them to transport goods. “Petrol prices are already sky-high. Now traders are forced to carry goods on their motorcycles due to lack of alternatives,” they said.

They alleged that traffic police are using the new number plate issue as a pretext to harass and extort riders. “They pounce on motorcyclists like vultures and even search their pockets,” they said.

Warning of serious protest, they stated that if these “oppressive decisions” are not withdrawn, traders will lay siege to the office of the DIG Traffic and will not end the protest until their demands are met.

Criticizing the state of public transport, they said the government thinks the problem has been solved by running just 200 to 300 buses in a city of 35 million. “The public is already suffering due to the transport crisis. Now, banning Qingqi rickshaws on 20 main roads of Karachi has made life more difficult and pushed thousands into unemployment,” they said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025