Duplicate Registration Book or Smart Card: How to Replace It

If your registration book or smart card is lost, stolen or damaged, you apply to the same provincial excise and taxation department that issued it for a duplicate document under your existing registration number. For a theft, file a police report first; for damage, keep the damaged document and hand it in at the counter. The replacement is issued against the original record, so the vehicle keeps its registration number and no ownership change takes place.

First steps when it is lost or stolen

Act in this order, because each step produces something the next one asks for.

1. File a police report for a theft. A report records the date and place of loss, which protects you if the document is later misused and is accepted by most departments as part of the duplicate application.
2. Secure what you still have. Preserve any photocopy or photograph of the document. Chassis and engine numbers taken from those images let staff pull the record without guessing.
3. Note where the document went missing. Some departments ask for a short written statement describing the circumstances, particularly where a police report was not filed.
4. Ask your provincial department what else it requires. Some provinces also want a notice published in a newspaper; others rely on the police report alone.

Documents you will need

Document	Why it is required
CNIC of the registered owner	Confirms the applicant is the recorded owner
Copy of the police report	Records the loss or theft formally
Chassis and engine number	Locates the existing registration record
Damaged original, where applicable	Surrendered and cancelled at the counter
Completed duplicate application form	The formal request for reissue
Paid fee slip or PSID	Proof that the duplicate charge was deposited

Duplicate applications are generally accepted only from the registered owner. If the owner has died, the family follows the inheritance transfer route instead, which is a separate application handled by different staff.

How to apply

Applications are filed at the registration authority that holds your record, or through the online registration portal where your province offers duplicate services there. The usual sequence is to submit the form with attachments, receive an acknowledgement or token number, deposit the charge against the payment slip issued for your file, then return or wait as instructed for collection.

If the record does not appear, the cause is almost always a detail mismatch. Check the chassis number digit by digit against your CNIC-linked record, because early records entered with a stray digit can take an extra verification step to locate.

How long it takes

Processing timelines are set locally and vary with workload and whether police verification is involved. Duplicates are commonly issued within a few working days where the record is clean and no verification is pending, and longer where a police report is being checked or where smart-card production happens at a central facility rather than at the district office. Ask for the expected date when you submit, and keep the token number to enquire against.

While you wait

Keep a verified copy of your record, your CNIC and evidence of the police report with you when driving, along with proof that a duplicate has been applied for. Verification at a checkpoint can often be done against your registration number where a provincial service allows it, and presenting a pending application alongside a police report is a reasonable explanation for a missing physical document.

Store the replacement differently from the original once you collect it — keep the documents at home and carry only copies in the vehicle. Then use your new records to confirm that the replacement shows the same chassis, engine and owner details you held before.