LAHORE: The National Radio & Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) has applied for extension of two years in contract with the Excise department Punjab for supplying of ISO7591 and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) compliant finished (embossed and hot-foiled) Retro Reflective Number Plates (RRNP), said well-placed sources.
The departmental sources, requesting anonymity, said that approval against the request is under process and is likely to be completed in a week or so. Duration of the earlier one year contract was completed on 29th October 2021.
The department had issued a purchase order for procurement of 2 million number plates against a cost of Rs 1.6 billion to NRTC and fifty percent amount (Rs 800 million) was released in advance, they added.
So far, said the sources, the Corporation has supplied 1.2 million number plates and demand has risen by another one million to the total backlog of 2.5 million number plates, which would be met by NRTC once extension in contract is awarded.
According to the sources, the excise department had started supplying computerized number plates to vehicle owners under the Motor Transportation Management Information System (MTMIS) in 2006. The department had signed last agreement with M/s Inbox Business Technologies (Pvt) Ltd in 2014 for a period of three years.
Meanwhile, they added, the department decided to introduce universal number plates for all the cities of the Punjab that required certain amendments in the Punjab Motor Vehicle Rules, 1969. The matter, however, kept on pending and finally the provincial cabinet approved the amendments in April 2018.
The sources said the procurement process was initiated on 27-12-2017. However, the procurement process could not be finalized due to various reasons. Moreover, some of the bidders also went into litigation. The last writ petition in this respect was dismissed by the Lahore High Court on 03-05-2019.
Due to the aforementioned litigation, it was decided by the competent authority to extend the bid validity period by excluding the period consumed during the stay order.
The bid validity period was, therefore, extended till 10.10.2019. In the meantime, however, the value of Pak rupee depreciated as against the US dollar. As a consequence, all the bidders by quoting the rise in the price of raw material withdrew their bids. As a result, the procurement process was scrapped on 10.10.2019 by the competent authority.
Amidst this confusion, said the sources, the excise department received a proposal from the NRTC that it wanted to enter into a Government-to-Government (G2G) arrangement with the Excise department for the supply of ISO7591 and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) compliant finished (embossed and hot-foiled) RRNP.
The department was unable to issue new number plates to vehicle owners since April 2019; therefore, it initiated a summary before the Chief Minister to allow it to place the matter before the PPRA Board of Management to specify G2G as an alternate mode of procurement of number plates to be supplied by the NRTC.
The PPRA Board held a meeting on 27.03.2020 and approved the proposal with the caveat that the contract executed with NRTC would be for duration of one year and would be extendable for two years on satisfactory performance. The Punjab cabinet had accordingly approved the Board's decision.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021