Wrong Car, Wrong City: Multan Man Gets Fine for a Bike He Doesn’t Own

A man in Multan opened his phone last week and saw a fresh e-challan. Fine: Rs 750. Offence: running a red light in Sheikhupura, almost 300 km away.

The picture attached to the ticket showed a 70cc motorcycle.

The ticket was issued to his 2021 Suzuki Alto.

He never left Multan that day. He doesn’t even own a bike.

This Is Happening More Than You Think

Criminals are tampering with number plates on purpose. They slap a fake plate on their bike or rickshaw that matches someone else’s real car. The camera snaps it, the system reads the plate, and the fine lands in the inbox of the innocent owner.

Sometimes they just peel off a sticker or scratch one digit so the camera misreads “ABC-123” as “ABC-723”. Same result: the wrong person pays.

What the Police Say

Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) and the traffic police both call this a proper crime, not just a prank. Making or using fake plates can land you in jail for up to three years, plus a heavy fine. They’ve started registering FIRs in some cases.

But catching the real offender is hard when all they have is a blurry picture of a bike that’s long gone.

How to Fix It If It Happens to You

Don’t just pay the fine and curse. You can fight it in five minutes:

1. Open the PSCA Punjab Police app or go to psca.gop.pk

1. Click “e-Challan Dispute”

1. Put in the challan number and your plate number

1. Upload a clear picture of your car (to prove it’s not a bike)

1. Submit. Most of these get cancelled within 48 hours.

Hundreds of people are already doing this every week.

The Bigger Fix Everyone Wants

Old cameras can’t tell the difference between a car and a bike if the plate matches. Newer systems with better OCR and vehicle-type detection are being tested in Lahore. If they work, Punjab plans to roll them out everywhere. That would stop most of these wrong fines overnight.

Until then, police are telling workshops to stop selling fake or duplicate plates. Raids have started in Lahore and Faisalabad already.

What People on the Street Are Saying

On Facebook groups and WhatsApp, drivers are angry but also laughing at the pictures. One guy posted a challan for “over-speeding 140 km/h” on a CD-70 bike. Another got fined for not wearing a seatbelt on a Qingqi rickshaw.

The jokes write themselves, but no one’s laughing when the fine shows “unpaid” on the car fitness certificate.

Simple Advice Right Now

• Check your challan history once a month

• Take a current picture of your car or bike and keep it in your phone

• Dispute wrong tickets the same day, don’t wait

• If you spot a vehicle with plates that look scratched or stuck on with tape, send the picture to the traffic helpline 15. They actually follow up.

This mess won’t vanish tomorrow. But the more innocent people challenge fake challans, the harder it becomes for the real crooks to get away with it. For more updates, visit DrivePK.com