ISLAMABAD: Authorities in the Pakistani capital have intensified enforcement against vehicles without mandatory electronic tags with more than 166,000 cars now registered, according to data released on Sunday evening, as Islamabad moves to strengthen security and digital monitoring at key entry and exit points.

The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration introduced the electronic tagging system late last year as part of a broader effort to regulate traffic, improve record-keeping and enhance surveillance in a city that hosts the country’s main government institutions, foreign missions and diplomatic enclaves.

Under the system, vehicles are fitted with electronic tags that can be read automatically by scanners installed at checkpoints across the capital, allowing authorities to identify unregistered vehicles without manual inspections. Vehicles already equipped with a motorway tag, or m-tag, are exempt from the requirement.

“A total of 166,888 vehicles have successfully been issued M-Tags so far, including 3,130 vehicles in the last 24 hours,” the ICT administration said, according to the Excise Department.

Officials said readers installed at checkpoints across Islamabad are fully operational and are being used to stop vehicles still without tags, as enforcement teams carry out checks across the city.

To facilitate compliance, authorities have expanded installation facilities and extended operating hours. The Excise Department said m-tag installation is currently available at 17 booth locations, while select centers have begun operating beyond normal working hours.

According to Director General Excise Irfan Memon, m-tag centers at 26 Number Chungi and 18 Meel are providing services round the clock, while counters at Kachnar Park and F-9 Park remain open until midnight to accommodate motorists unable to visit during daytime hours.

Officials said the combination of enforcement and facilitation was aimed at achieving full compliance with minimal disruption, adding that operations would continue until all vehicles operating in the capital are brought into the system.

The enforcement drive builds on a wider push by the federal government to integrate traffic management, emergency response and security monitoring through technology-driven “safe city” initiatives. Last month, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi reviewed Islamabad’s surveillance infrastructure and said reforms in monitoring systems and the effective use of technology were the “need of the hour.”

Authorities have urged motorists to obtain electronic tags promptly to avoid delays and penalties at checkpoints as enforcement continues across the capital.