KARACHI: The All Pakistan Car Dealers and Importers Association (APDA) has urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to remove the one-year non-transfer restriction imposed on vehicles imported by overseas Pakistanis under the Gift and Transfer of Residence Scheme.

Through SRO 61(I)/2026, sub-clause (10) was inserted into Appendix-E of the Import Policy Order 2022, requiring vehicles imported under the Gift or Transfer of Residence Scheme to remain non-transferable for one year from the date of importation.

In the prevailing security environment, the unintended consequences of this policy require immediate attention at the highest level. Overseas Pakistanis facing genuine financial or personal circumstances may need to sell their vehicles before expiry of the one-year period, APDA Patron-in-Chief Mian Shoaib Ahmed stated in a letter to the prime minister on Wednesday.

The restriction does not necessarily prevent vehicles from physically changing hands; instead, it can prevent official ownership records from reflecting that change. Consequently, the actual keeper and user of a vehicle may differ from the person listed in the government registration records, he said.

Car dealers call for lifting one-year non-transfer clause, citing security and ownership issues

This creates a direct vulnerability for law-enforcement and counter-terrorism operations. Pakistan’s Safe City cameras, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), vehicle databases and surveillance infrastructure depend upon accurate registration records.

If ownership records do not correspond to actual possession, identifying a suspicious vehicle may lead authorities to the previous owner rather than its current keeper, Mr Shoaib said.

In incidents involving terrorism, kidnapping, targeted attacks, smuggling, robbery or other serious criminal activity, such a mismatch can waste critical investigative time, create confusion regarding responsibility and potentially provide a loophole capable of being exploited by criminal or terrorist elements, he said.

There is also a risk that vehicles may be operated without proper registration or up-to-date ownership documentation, further weakening the state’s ability to establish accurate and immediate traceability, he said.

The restriction also limits an Overseas Pakistanis ability to lawfully dispose of his or her own property. Preventing legal transfer may encourage informal possession arrangements rather than preventing the underlying sale. Every vehicle operating on Pakistan’s roads should be traceable to its actual lawful owner and keeper. Any regulatory gap that compromises this chain of accountability should be addressed immediately as a matter of national security.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2026