Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NCP Cars
NCP Cars
This paper reviews the prevalent issue of the smuggling and the usage of the non-custom paid
vehicles in Pakistan while exploring its brutal effects on the economy and the society of the
country. The inflation rate has increased to an alarming level in Pakistan, which has led people to
find the easy route towards a leading a luxurious life on a budget. Thus, the NCP vehicles are
smuggled through Pakistan’s borders with Iran and Afghanistan to the Chaman city, which is the
hub of such activities. The facility to buy inexpensive vehicles has paved the way for the easy
execution of the illegitimate plans of militant groups and criminals, which badly affects the
society. It also affects the foreign investment as well as the cash flow in the country. Besides, a
lack of tax revenues is directly related to an increase in crimes; also, it results in the lack of
resource allocation for public service by the government. It is hoped that the government add this
issue in its priority list and take appropriate measures and formulates effective policies
accordingly.
Literature Review
Immense pieces of literature have been devoted to the usage of NCP vehicles worldwide,
nonetheless, Bacha (2015) and Kamran (2016) specifically shed light on this issue with the
backdrop of Pakistani socio-political arena. An increase in the usage of NCP vehicles especially
in the under-developed areas of Pakistan, i.e. Baluchistan, FATA and KPK, has given rise to
criminal activities as well as the illegitimate acts by the militant groups (Bacha 2015). Even the
government officials are unable to control the situation, as many influential political and
religious leaders have indulged themselves in these activities. Pakistanis, having a desire to live a
luxurious life, buy expensive cars at affordable prices while neglecting the severe consequences
(Kamran 2016). Bacha (2015) merely illuminates the causes and effects of the usage of NCP cars
on the society, without putting forth any viable measures or suggestions to minimize the extent
of this issue, whereas Kamran (2016) depicts a solution-based argument by discussing a bunch of
appropriate steps that the government can take to reduce the immensity of the drawbacks of the
issue. Moreover, Wajid (2014) describes the potential reasons behind the need to smuggle and
trade NCP vehicles. Those reasons are inclusive of tax burden, unemployment, inflation and lack
of law and order (Wajid 2014). All in all, the previous studies have not depicted the causes,
effects and solutions (collectively) for the usage of NCR vehicles in Pakistan; moreover, they
have not delineated the interconnection of the economic and the socio-political arena with the
study takes the social, political and economic effects of NCR vehicles as well as depict the role
of the officials, belonging to the customs department and police, in reducing the rapidly
The metamorphosis of the world from industrialism to informationalism since the start of
the 21st century, has allowed the questionable practices of various kinds of corruption in many
countries; Pakistan being one of them. While many kinds of fraudulent conducts continue to
prevail in the country, smuggling of vehicles has paved the path for a plethora of negative effects
ranging from social issues to the economic ones. In the olden days, the automobile industry was
flourishing as many companies had established their branches in Pakistan; as the inflation rate
was negligible. Nonetheless, nowadays the inflation rate has increased to an alarming level,
which has led people towards finding the easy route towards a leading a luxurious life on a
budget. Hence, Pakistanis – even those living in the progressive urban areas – being influenced
by a capitalistic mode of life, are tending to buy non-custom paid vehicles in affordable prices to
fulfill the luxurious living standard. Whereas, people belonging to the not-so-progressive areas of
the country and the ones working for the co-opting elites, use such vehicles to be indulged in
illegitimate activities, i.e. terrorism and other crimes like human trafficking, kidnapping, etc.
Non-custom paid vehicles are mostly smuggled through the borders with Afghanistan and
Iran, Chaman being the hub of NCP vehicles. In an interview with a NCP cars dealer, it was
found out that there is a handsome demand for such cars in Baluchistan. Additionally, one must
not ignore the fact that Baluchistan is the most under-developed province in the country. NCP
vehicles are also delivered to the other provinces, especially to the elite. Pakistan has a 959 km
long border with Iran and a 26000 km long border with Afghanistan. The cars are smuggled
through the mountains, as it is not possible to patrol across the border. Custom officials are
present on authorized routes, however the smugglers use various routes through the border. The
smugglers are usually locals, therefore they are accustomed to the area and know all the
shortcuts.
Baluchistan, FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are home to terrorist activities as well as
militant groups. Furthermore, the facility to buy inexpensive vehicles has paved the way for the
easy execution of their illegitimate plans. Besides, the availability of the NCP cars has born a
hand to the local criminals to commit perfect crimes, as they successfully prevent themselves to
be identified while committing several crimes, such as kidnapping, human trafficking, serial
killing and robberies. Thereby, an increase in the crime rate affect the Pakistani society badly.
Moreover, it promotes lack of law and order; and the law is somewhat subordinated, thus it
ultimately gives way to the rule of the jungle, throwing democracy out of the window.
Besides, it is a well-known fact that corruption breeds corruption. Henceforth, smuggling
has given rise to other crimes, as discussed earlier. A poor practice of law and order in the
country has indirectly influenced people to take the easy road towards tax evasion. Thus, the
leaders use NCP cars freely, without any hesitation as they have connections with senior
officials. In an interview with a police official, it was known that there is only one rule regarding
the usage of NCP cars and that is “might is right”. The official raised a viable question that how
come he can check a motorcade/rally of a religious group or a political party on the city roads. If
he or does so, unfortunately he would have to face severe consequences – for doing his job. Such
discrepancies in the treatment of people based on their position on the ladder of social hierarchy
breed political unrest and civil disobedience in the society and leave dangerous marks on the
Other than that, Pakistan’s economy has been brutally affected due to this smuggling of
NCP vehicles. According to the research, inflation is one of the major reasons behind the usage
of the NCP vehicles. Pakistan is a Third World country and is economically challenged due to a
burden of foreign loans upon its shoulders. Thus, the CPI rises in the country – which implies the
change in the prices of goods as well as services – causing a fall in the purchasing power of the
money. Henceforth, people become poor. Furthermore, the inflation results in a decrease in the
demand of goods as well as services and a decrease in the quantity of the real GDP of economy.
Tariff burden is also a leading reason behind it. Wajid says that the most popular and significant
cause of the shadow economic activities, as found in literature, is the tax rate. Due to high trade
restrictions, traders often find illegal ways of trading i.e. smuggling and miss-invoicing (2014).
There are many forms of tax evasions, smuggling of NCP vehicles is one of them. Tax
evasions depresses the economy, as it decreases the amount of public services provided by the
government due to a lack of revenue. It ultimately results in raised taxes since the government
has to make up for the economic deficit of billions of rupees – thus, this adds more to the already
increasing inflation. Additionally, the government have to spend a huge sum of revenues to
prevent tax evasion. Smuggling of NCP cars in Pakistan has also hurt the domestic economy,
since the local businesses pay all the tax, but can’t flourish as the smugglers bypass the taxing
process. Moreover, it affects the foreign investment as well as cash flow in the country. Besides,
An increase in NCP vehicles has paved the way for extra rush of unauthorized vehicles
on the roads resulting in an increase in the petroleum usage and damage of roads; furthermore,
the government lacks revenues for the repair and reconstruction of the trodden roads. Several pot
holes can be seen on Malakand-Dir road – which is the nursery of the smuggling of NCP
vehicles (Bacha 2015). In several districts of Malakand Division, people are using NCP cars
freely as it is a tax-free zone. The custom duty officials have been provide with vehicles
verification system (VVS) to detect a NCP vehicle, but working against the elite is difficult for
them. Bacha reports that an official of the excise and taxation department said “At least 10 per
cent non-custom paid vehicles are on roads in different districts, but the users are so influential
that they could not be apprehended so easily. They are government officials, businessmen and
politicians,” he revealed. “We have to face humiliation and even life threats at the hands of
influential people while taking action against illegal vehicles, but our inspectors are not given
any incentive for the recovery,” the official complained (Bacha 2015). IGP Nasir Khan Durrani
has given a briefing the Federal Bureau of Revenue and chief secretary of KPK about the usage
of NCP vehicles by militant groups in 2014, but all in vain. Thus, the association of the
concerned departments with the illegitimate trade of NCP vehicles is of little to no use – their
According to various surveys, Pakistanis who buy NCP vehicles are well-aware of the
consequences of their actions, still they continue to indulge in such acts. There are a bunch of
viable measures that can be taken by the government of Pakistan to decrease the smuggling of
NCP cars; such as the establishment of a central database to record the information regarding the
vehicles used by the citizens; enforcement of strict border laws; empowerment of the police
officials; decrease the customs duty to prevent the long-term economic deficit; improvement of
the quality of goods by the local manufacturers; and introducing schemes like the ‘Amnesty
scheme’ of 2012 that allowed the SUV owners to legalize their cars. About 90,000 cars were
All in all, the trade as well as the usage of non-custom paid vehicles in Pakistan leaves
brutal marks on its economy, society especially the social well-being of the youth. It is hoped
that the government add this issue in its priority list and take appropriate measures accordingly to
minimize the long-term losses in economy, increase in crime rates, political instability, lack of
law and order, lack of empowerment of the officials belonging to the customs department and
Bacha, Ali Hazrat. “Use of Non-Custom Paid Vehicles in Crimes Growing”. Dawn, 2015, URL:
www.dawn.com/news/1175392
“How Does Smuggling Affect The Economy?” DBT & Partners Solicitors & Advocates, URL:
www.dpp-businesstax.com/legal-articles/smuggling-affect-economy/
Wajid, Zainab. “Smuggling around the World: An Empirical Investigation of Causes and
Indicators”. Forman Journal of Economic Studies, Vol. 10, 2014 (January–December) pp. 105-
World-An-Empirical-Investigation-of-Causes-and-Indicators-by-Zainab-Wajid-Babar-Aziz-and-
Zahid-Iqbal.pdf