The 25-year monopoly of Access Company, which manufactured vehicle number plates, has shifted to South Asian Technologies.

To ensure the continuous provision of services by the Department of Motor Traffic, the government has taken steps to award the contract for printing and supplying vehicle number plates for the next five years. Bids were invited for this under the National Competitive Procurement method, and four institutions submitted bids.

After studying the submitted bids, the most suitable institution was selected, taking into account the recommendations provided by the High-Level Standing Procurement Committee and the Procurement Appeal Board. Accordingly, it has been decided to award this contract to M/s South Asian Technologies (Pvt) Ltd.

This contract is valid for a period of 05 years, and the proposal submitted by the Minister of Transport and Highways has received Cabinet approval. This will enable the Department of Motor Traffic to provide an efficient service to the public when registering vehicles and issuing number plates. The fact that 'Access' was the sole company carrying out this task for 25 years since 2000 had led to certain complexities. The same company had secured this tender since 2000, and the tenders in 2008 and 2019 were also renewed and awarded to the same company. However, this time, 04 companies submitted bids for the new tender, and the previously mentioned company was selected from them.

Access, the institution that previously supplied number plates, had submitted an appeal to the Presidential Secretariat, but the new tender was not awarded to them.