Why Buying Non-Custom Cars and Bikes Is a Bad Idea?

Are Non-Custom Paid (NCP) Cars and Bikes Worth Buying?

Who doesn’t want to have their dream car at an affordable price? For this reason, there are some who might go for non-custom paid cars and bikes smuggled from Afghanistan into Pakistan via tribal areas and Chaman, Balochistan. These cars are many times cheaper than their original price in the local market and this lures many into buying them. It’s a wrong idea, which can land you in jail.

Buying an NCP vehicle is illegal. In this blog, we will discuss what these vehicles are, why people buy them, their disadvantages, and whether it is true that these vehicles can be registered in Pakistan.

What are Non Custom Cars (NCP Cars)?

NCP stands for “non-custom-paid”. As the name suggests a non custom vehicle is any vehicle whose custom duty is not paid. So, what is custom duty? Well, it is the amount of money that the Customs Department charges for a vehicle to be cleared from the port before it enters Pakistan. Since these cars cannot be registered, people mostly use bogus number plates on them to be able to drive them on the road.

As mentioned earlier, NCP vehicles are mostly smuggled into Pakistan from Afghanistan. It is the reason why you will find most of them near the Chaman border or in Swat.

Why Do People Buy NCP Bikes and Cars?

Well, the main reason why people buy non-custom cars or bikes is their cheap price. A luxury NCP car can be bought for the price of a normal custom paid sedan. The same goes for non-custom paid heavy bikes.

Another reason why some end up buying these vehicles is that their sellers never tell them they are NCP. What happens is that the sellers produce bogus registration documents, convincing the buyer that these are custom-paid cars. The sellers may further dupe the buyers by convincing them that they are in need of urgent money and therefore selling these cars for cheaper prices.

One other reason is that the people buy these cars knowing they can get away with the law. There are areas in Pakistan where the writ of state is weak. These are mostly border regions, adjacent to Afghanistan and Iran. However, the government is now tightening the screws and making life difficult for the non-custom paid car owners in these areas as well.

Now, let us see what are the drawbacks of owning NCP bikes and cars.

Disadvantages of Buying Non Custom Cars and Bikes (NCP Cars and Bikes)

Disadvantages of buying NCP cars and bikes far outweigh its advantages. Here is a list of drawbacks of having the NCP cars in Pakistan.

You always have a fear of being caught.
It is nearly impossible to drive the NCP cars in Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, and other big cities.
You risk losing all of your money once your vehicle is confiscated.

Punishment for Non Custom Paid Cars and Bikes

Nowadays, Customs, FBR, Excise and Taxation officials have online access to car and bike data in Pakistan. If you are stopped by a law enforcement personnel while driving an NCP car or bike,

Your vehicle can be confiscated, meaning you will lose all of your investment in it. And there is more.
As per Supreme Court orders, if a person is caught with an NCP vehicle, FIR must be registered against the person.

So, in addition to losing your vehicle, you can also be jailed.

Nowadays, you can easily get the vehicle verified from different sources. Before buying any imported vehicle, verify it from the Customs Department. Getting clearance from the relevant department is important. You also need to see how to check the auction sheet in Pakistan when buying an imported car. Spending time verifying now can help you stay away from trouble in future.

You can buy a used car at a lower price instead of purchasing an NCP if the budget is an issue.

How to Register Non Custom Cars and Bikes (NCP Cars and Bikes)?

Currently, there is no legal procedure to register an NCP car in Pakistan. There was a proposal to give amnesty to the people of FATA after the region was merged into KPK. In Malakand alone, over 500,000 NCP vehicles were on the roads. However, the proposal was rejected. In the past, the PPP government introduced a month-long amnesty scheme that resulted in the registration of around 34,000 NCP vehicles. However, Islamabad High Court declared this scheme illegal later on.

All the above-mentioned points show that buying non-custom cars and bikes is a bad idea in Pakistan. It is important to note that transporters or smugglers that are caught transporting the smuggled goods are fined 20% of the vehicle’s value in the first instance. In the second instance, their vehicles are confiscated outright and auctioned later on.

It shows if a person gets caught having a smuggled car in the first instance, an FIR will be launched and the vehicle will be seized and auctioned. However, the smuggler just gets the punishment of a fine of 20% on the first instance. It shows that the person smuggling illegal items gets less punishment and the user of that illegal gets higher punishment. This is something that the government needs to look into.

If you are buying or selling a vehicle, the following documents are essential. The Delivery Letter is kept by the buyer and the Sales Receipt is kept by the seller to keep the record of transaction.