RASC News Agency: The Taliban’s Ministry of Finance has announced the commencement of a process to register and issue legal documents for vehicles without customs documentation in Afghanistan. The Taliban stated that, due to the economic conditions of the people, they are granting legal permits to these undocumented vehicles. Previously, the distribution of legal documents for “one-key” vehicles had begun under the previous government.
On Wednesday, July 17, the Taliban’s Ministry of Finance released a statement indicating that, based on a cabinet decision and a decree from Mullah Hibatullah, the process of registering and taxing vehicles without documentation has begun. The Taliban aim to increase their revenues through this initiative. Previously, they had selected a specific color for taxis, but taxi drivers reported that the Taliban demanded exorbitant fees for this service, charging multiple times what was required under the previous government, and also engaging in bribery. Without paying bribes, individuals experienced significant delays in their processing.
The recent decree stated that legal documents would be issued for undocumented vehicles in eight provinces: Kabul, Herat, Balkh, Nangarhar, Kandahar, Kunduz, Khost, and Paktia. The Taliban’s Ministry of Finance has urged vehicle owners to begin the registration process and announced special discounts for owners of undocumented vehicles. The primary objective of this initiative is to increase revenue. The notion of facilitating ease for the people is merely an excuse. Some vehicle owners view this process, like the taxi color registration, as a money-grabbing scheme and refer to it as a form of “Taliban deception.”
It is noteworthy that the majority of visitors to Taliban-run offices complain about the behavior, bribery, and extortion by members of the group. It should also be noted that the process of registering vehicles without customs documentation was initiated by Amrullah Saleh, the former Vice President, in the “6:30 a.m. Meetings.”
