Islamabad has opened new M-Tag installation counters at the Press Club and Parade Ground to ease long queues and make registration easier for journalists and the public.
Why Islamabad Is Adding More M-Tag Counters
The Islamabad Capital territory government has increased its system of installing M-Tags in order to enable the citizens to easily get their vehicles registered to pay motorway tolls. As traffic and use and utilization of M-Tag continued growing in major routes, there was a lot of congestions and queues in the available facilities.
To solve this, the administration has installed two new counters in the city, one of them is directed to journalists in Islamabad Press Club, and another one in Parade Ground to the general population. The action is meant to minimize congestion at the older places, reduce the waiting time and provide more locations where citizens can do their M-Tag business.
Special M-Tag Counter for Journalists at Press Club
The Islamabad Press Club has also created a special M-Tag installation counter specifically to serve the media professionals. This counter is installed by the officials in cooperation with the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) and with the help of the Excise and Taxation Directorate.
The reporters usually lead hectic and unpredictable schedules as they are required to cover stories, press conferences and visit locations. The administration is attempting to save the time of the media people and make sure that they do not have to stand in quesy lines in order to get registered with the M-Tag because the administration ensures that they bring the service to the Press Club.
This move is also indicative of the acknowledgment of the role played by the journalists in reporting on traffic, transport and civic matters in the capital, and gives them a better experience with a service that most of them utilize on a regular basis when travelling between cities.
Parade Ground Counter for the General Public
An additional M-Tag installation counter has been established at Parade Ground besides the Press Club facility. This place will cater to the general population and provide the alternative to the current points that are overpopulated.
The authorities have asked citizens to utilize the Parade Ground counter particularly those who may otherwise have to travel to the Kachnar Park I-8 point of installing the counter. The Kachnar Park location is now in great rush and takes longer time to process people, which is making it difficult to issue M-Tags to people promptly.
The administration also expects to distribute traffic more equally and make the entire system more effective by channeling more traffic towards Parade Ground.
Ensuring Smooth Operations at All M-Tag Points
The officials claim that the Director of Excise and Taxation is personally visiting M-Tag installation points to see how everything is going on and address problems at the point. Periodic visits would be used to detect the bottlenecks like shortages of staff, technological issues with equipment or poor queue management.
On-ground monitoring is significant since a significant number of citizens arrive with little time and demand fast services. The top officers showing interest directly sends a message that they are interested in the convenience of the people and complaints will be handled accordingly.
The growth of counter office is to guarantee an early servicing of applicants, they do not need to make a repeat visit to the office to carry out a basic task of registering.
What Islamabad Residents Should Do Now
The message of the authorities is quite clear to the residents who still need to acquire their M-Tag: select the most appropriate counter depending on your location and schedule. The Parade Ground facility is being encouraged to be used by general motorists other than crowding the Kachnar Park I-8 that is already strained.
The media workers or regulars of the Islamabad Press Club can take advantage of the special counter at the club, which has been set up to ensure that journalists are able to accomplish the task less quickly. In spite of the place, an applicant is expected to carry all his necessary documents including CNIC, vehicle registration and phone and contact information to avoid wastage of time.
Such extras counters in the long run should ease the process of M-Tag registration to all the people, they would cut down on the waiting time and help to collect more tolls efficiently in the motor ways. To the citizens, the transformation will mean that their queues will be reduced, there will be more choice and an improved experience in general when preparing their vehicles to electronically pay the tolls.
