Citizens now have three months to sort out driving licence issues

Karachi
The duration to be able to renew and obtain driving licenses was extended by three months on Tuesday on the directives of Additional Inspector General of Sindh Traffic Police Khadim Hussain Bhatti.
A day earlier on Monday, Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal had issued orders to extend the deadline of a crackdown against unlicensed drivers by a month, following the chaos that had erupted at driving licences branches when citizens thronged to get their documents renewed.
Meanwhile, the home department wrote a letter to the Sindh IGP Ghulam Hyder Jamali expressing ire over the mismanagement at driving license branches.
According to the orders of Additional IG Bhatti, during these three months citizens do not face any threat of being imprisoned at the hands of the police. It was said while the traffic police would continue their crackdown against the unlicensed driving of motor vehicles, but instead of arresting violators police personnel will issue fines to the people found driving vehicles without having valid documents.
The Additional IG issued these directives when he visited the driving license branches in Clifton, Korangi, and Nazimabad, where he also asked citizens about the problems being faced by them. Meanwhile, traffic police authorities have clarified that Section 97 of the Provincial Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1965 fully authorised the traffic police personnel to initiate proceedings of up to six months of imprisonment or a fine up to Rs500 for people driving in public places without valid driving licenses.

Home secretary's letter
Meanwhile, additional chief secretary for Sindh government’s home department, Muhammad Waseem, in a correspondence with Sindh IGP expressed his ire over the recently launched campaign of traffic police in Karachi against unlicensed driving of vehicles.
The correspondence conveyed resentment over the scenes of mismanagement and chaos at the three driving license branches in the city, causing immense hardships to applicants the previous day. The letter stated that the traffic police personnel were found in a helpless state during the campaign against and urged the police chief to launch an informed campaign after consulting with the relevant stakeholders.