Sir: It is estimated that in Karachi alone, some 300,000 vehicles go about using illegal number plates of various shades. Most impersonate government vehicles by using plates with a green background and the ‘government of Sindh’ written on them. This gives them license to violate traffic rules, not pay taxes and access secure areas without being questioned by the police. There are also those who use VIP-looking, fancy and self-projecting number plates carrying either a family name or a fake number. These vehicles have never been registered, pay no taxes, violate traffic laws and frequently indulge in crimes. The police are too timid to check, as their owners largely come from the same class that also rules the country. There are yet other lawbreakers who carry no number plates at all. These belong to the highest in power and authority or are simply top-of-the line crooks. Any ordinary citizen can use his phone to log on to the Excise and Taxation (ET) website to identify if a vehicle is registered or not and the nature of ownership, whether it is private or government. The provincial police regretfully have not developed even this basic capability. Government departments such as ET and the police, responsible for curbing these crimes, remain confined within their narrow territorial mandates, leaving open space for criminals to operate freely. How can the federal and provincial governments remain so utterly indifferent and apathetic about thousands of vehicles that blatantly indulge in crime and lawlessness? NAEEM SADIQ Via Email