LHC introduces transport monetisation policy, allows judicial officers to buy vehicles at depreciated rates

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has come up with its Transport Monetisation Policy allowing the judges and other judicial officers working in the district courts of the province of Punjab to acquire their official vehicles through depreciation rates.

This policy has come into effect retrospectively from July 1, 2026.

Under this new policy, the judicial officers would no more be provided with official fuel, maintenance, or driver services for personal use.

Instead of all the above mentioned facilities, a monthly transport monetisation allowance would be provided to the judges which would be determined by the authorized body and reviewed from time to time considering fuel costs and economic situation.

In this regard, the registrar of the LHC issued a notification mentioning that the chief justice of the court Ms. Aalia Neelum had approved this policy based on the recommendations of the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee (NJPMC) and the provincial cabinet of Punjab.

Another important part of the policy states that judicial officers may buy the official vehicles allocated to them by paying a depreciated lump sum amount. In case they do not want to purchase the said vehicles, then they must immediately return them to their concerned district and sessions judges.

As stated in the notification, the depreciated price is calculated using depreciation of 15 per cent for the first year and 10 per cent for each subsequent year based on the original price of purchase of the vehicle.

The policy also states that the total purchase amount must be paid in one lump sum by either pay order or demand draft to LHC registrar.

Moreover, the sale price must be no lower than Rs200,000 in case the vehicle capacity is up to 1000cc and Rs250,000 for 1300cc and above.

Those judicial officers who are willing to purchase their allocated vehicles must also provide an undertaking on the required terms and conditions.

Subsequently, the vehicles have to be registered as private vehicles. In such circumstances, registration numbers issued by the government as well as the green plates of numbers have to be surrendered; all costs of re-registration, transfer, and taxes will be the responsibility of the purchasing judicial officer.

From the above notification, it is quite evident that the arrangement is open for judicial officers who have been allotted the official vehicle by the Lahore High Court.

Moreover, even the widow or spouse of a judicial officer who dies on duty would be allowed to purchase the vehicle allotted at the discounted price, under the prescribed procedure.

However, judicial officers who are facing any disciplinary action and judicial officers who have surrendered their official vehicles are likely to be ineligible to opt for the scheme.

Nevertheless, probationary judicial officers would benefit from the policy as per the relevant conditions.

Finally, every district has been asked to create a centralized pool of official vehicles for official/protocol purpose only, and excess vehicles resulting from the execution of the monetization policy have to be immediately informed to the Lahore High Court.