Public Works and Transport Ministry shows double car number plate. MPWT
The Ministry of Public Works and Transport has requested that police locate and take action against the owner of a Lexus NX 200t crossover bearing the plate number “Phnom Penh 2AQ-1333” after the ministry determined that the plate did not belong to that vehicle and was a probable forgery.
The ministry’s move came after social media users posted photos of two vehicles bearing the same plate number, one of them being the Lexus NX 200t and the other a Hyundai Venue crossover.
The ministry conducted a search of the automated vehicle registration system and reviewed their files and determined that the Hyundai Venue was correctly registered with the number plate in question.
“The Lexus NX 200t crossover is using a fake licence plate, which is illegal according to the road traffic law and the sub-decree on the registration of vehicles for identification cards and number plates. The public works ministry has notified relevant authorities, including the National Police, the General Department of Customs and Excise and the General Department of Taxation (GDT) to determine who owns the car and take legal action against them,” it said.
The ministry said the vehicle registration system uses an automatic authentication process to ensure that no duplicate number plates are ever issued and that the validity of any plates or identification cards could be checked using the QR Codes if they ever need verification.
Neither National Police spokesman Chhay Kim Khoeun nor any GDT officials could be reached for comment on December 26.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on December 23 repeated his declaration made earlier this year that all vehicles illegally imported into Cambodia were banned from use on the Kingdom’s roads.
“We will not allow any cars to be on the road without paying taxes. In the past it happened again and again, but no more. These right-hand drive and tax-evading cars are not allowed and customs officers have to get to work and put a stop to it,” he said.
In a separate case, Por Sen Chey district police detained three suspects for stealing several number plates from vehicles on the night of December 23.
“The police have impounded one motorcycle and confiscated seven stolen car licence plates. The … district police are building a case file for referral to court,” according to a statement from the National Police.
Pech Pisey, executive director of Transparency International Cambodia, earlier stated to The Post that the crackdown on fake number plates showed that the government was stepping up its efforts to combat the illegal use of vehicles, but it also indicated that there were still people importing vehicles illegally and profiting from it.
“We have to implement the laws equally and without exceptions or sympathy for offenders, otherwise this will keep happening again and again. I think that if we enforce the laws strictly enough, then no one will dare to keep breaking them,” he said.
