Bus, coach conductors without license, badge to be prosecuted: date extended till January 31

Deputy Inspector General Traffic Police Wajid Durrani on Thursday announced extension in date from November 30 to January 31, 2008 for obtaining license and badge for bus, minibus and coach conductors. The announcement said that those drivers, who did not possess computerised national identity cards, should try to get it at their earliest.
"Those who do not possess the CNIC would not be issued license. And, those who have the CNIC should contact concerned driving license branch and get the necessary license before it is too late," said the announcement. Durrani said that there would be no more extension in the date and the conductors, found without license and working on a bus, would be caught, booked and prosecuted against. Heavy fines would be imposed on the errant conductors.
The drivers and conductors of public transport are mostly without license to drive a commercial vehicle or to work as a conductor. Police has made several attempts in the past to discipline them, but so far no success has been achieved.
The public transport operators boast publicly that they pay extortion money to police for protection against the violation of traffic rules and criminal offences committed in compelling circumstances. Most of the drivers and conductors of minibuses and coaches are of dubious character and their whereabouts are known to their employers only.
There are reports that many of the drivers and conductors do not get salary or commission, but simply the needed protection from the police as they had left their homes in the NWFP after committing crimes. This facility is always available from minibus owners.
To register such people through the issuance of license would be difficult for the police as it would amount to register a criminal and absconder wanted in a criminal case. The Excise and Taxation Department sources said that there were a large number of minibuses, running in the suburb of Karachi, had fictitious numberplates. These vehicles were not registered in any district of Sindh.
The drivers and conductors, operating these minibuses, are under protection of their employers, who bribe local police heavily. The E&T sources said that there were requests in the past to trace the vehicles involved in fatal accidents, but these vehicles could not be traced, as they were not registered. In such a situation, the E&T sources are not optimistic about the success of the campaign DIG Durrani has launched.