DOHA: Chassis numbers and number plates have been made mandatory for caravans and luggage trailers, a senior official of the Traffic Department has disclosed.
The Department will soon start using a new device to inscribe chassis numbers on such vehicles in a way that can prevent tampering, its Director Col Mohammed Saad Al Kharji has said.
All caravans and luggage trailers need to be registered with the Traffic Department in the name of their owners. Currently there are about 30,000 registered luggage trailers in the country, according to data given the Department.
“This new device will make it easier for the Traffic Department to register vehicles and issue number plates, including for caravans and luggage trailers. The device uses laser to inscribe the numbers in a way that make tampering impossible,” a local Arabic daily quoted Al Kharji as saying.
It will not take more than a minute to inscribe the numbers using this device, he added.
No luggage trailer or caravan without a chassis number will be allowed in Qatar whether they are used inside or coming from outside, he added.
He said Qatar is the only country to use this device, which is normally used by vehicle manufacturing companies.
Fahes, the vehicle inspection arm of Woqod has imported the device according to the specifications given by the Traffic Department, he added.
“Any vehicle, caravan, luggage trailer or any other means of transport must have a chassis number to have a number plate. Earlier we were not able to register them properly due to lack of chassis numbers,” said the official.
Some owners used to inscribe the chassis number manually at local workshops but this is not the proper way to do it because they can easily be tampered with.
He said Fahes will start using the new device very soon. The owner should produce ownership documents to get the numbers inscribed. Captain Ali Al Bareedi, chairman of the technical inspection section at the Traffic Department said that the department was keen to use this device because it had come across several incidents of forgery in the past.
“Some trailers were leaving Qatar with one number and coming back with another. This forces us to register them again in another number. Chassis numbers will protect the properties and stop forgery. It will also help in catching luggage trailers wanted by the neighbouiring countries,” said Al Bareedi.
The Peninsula
