Sindh police to launch crackdown on illegal number plates from Dec 19

KARACHI: Sindh police have announced a province-wide campaign against illegal number plates, which authorities say are being used in Karachi to evade e-challans issued under the new electronic traffic enforcement system.

Addressing a press conference, Additional Inspector General of Police Javed Alam Odho said the large-scale crackdown would begin on December 19. He said vehicles found using illegal or unauthorised number plates would be seized during the campaign.

Odho said the drive was necessary to curb violations and ensure the effectiveness of the e-ticketing system. He added that the campaign was being launched in coordination with the Excise Department.

As part of the operation, Excise Department staff will be deployed on major highways, where vehicles with illegal number plates will be stopped. Cases will also be registered against violators, he said.

Referring to traffic enforcement measures, the police official said the traffic system had shown improvement since the launch of e-ticketing. He said at least 100,000 e-challans have been issued so far for various violations.

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The Traffic Regulation and Citation System (TRACS) was launched on October 27 to replace the manual ticketing process with a fully automated e-ticketing system. The system uses AI-integrated CCTV cameras to detect violations such as speeding, red-light jumping and helmet non-compliance.

However, since its launch, TRACS has sparked debate, with critics pointing to a lack of adequate facilities and infrastructure in Karachi to support the system’s effective implementation.