Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: In a significant development, the federal cabinet approved Pakistan’s first law to ensure minimum safety in locally assembled and imported cars, proposing up to three years’ imprisonment and fines of up to Rs10 million for violators.
The Motor Vehicles Industry Development Act was first cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Legislative Cases (CCLC) and then ratified by the federal cabinet. A cabinet member said the law aims to enforce minimum safety, quality, performance, and environmental standards for all vehicles manufactured or imported into Pakistan. This will be the first legislation mandating vehicle assemblers and all commercial importers to meet minimum safety standards. Pakistan has so far implemented only 17 of the 163 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) standards from 1958.
Despite longstanding complaints by consumers and parliamentarians about the poor quality of locally assembled cars, this is the first time the Ministry of Industries and Production has recommended legally binding minimum safety standards for vehicle users’ protection.
With cabinet approval secured, the bill will now be laid before parliamentary standing committees for review. These committees can amend any clause before the bill is tabled for voting in both houses of Parliament.
