Murtaza Wahab rides e-bike without helmet

KARACHI: Murtaza Wahab arrived at the Sindh Assembly on an electric bike on Friday without wearing a helmet, violating the provincial government’s recently enforced e-challan traffic regulations.

The video surfaced at a time when the Sindh government has been implementing strict traffic rules through its electronic challan system, including fines for motorcyclists not wearing helmets.

Footage showed the Karachi mayor riding the e-bike to the assembly premises without protective headgear.

Speaking to media representatives outside the assembly, Murtaza Wahab said riding a bike was “not difficult” and recalled that he used to ride a bicycle during his childhood.

He said he had come to attend a meeting at the assembly.

Read More: Australia imposes sanctions on banned BLA, senior leaders

The mayor also admitted that although he possessed a driving licence for a car, he did not hold a motorcycle licence.

“Now I will buy a helmet and also apply for a motorcycle licence,” Wahab said.

The Sindh government officially launched the Traffic Regulation and Citation System (TRACS) in October last year to replace the manual ticketing process with a fully automated e-ticketing mechanism.

Under the initiative, around 1,200 AI-integrated CCTV cameras were installed across Karachi to detect traffic violations, including over-speeding, jumping red lights and failure to wear helmets.

Since its launch, however, the e-challan system has sparked debate among citizens, with critics arguing that Karachi lacks adequate infrastructure and facilities to fully support the new enforcement mechanism.