QR panic code in 80,000 Lahore rickshaws and cabs: scan it to reach police

About 80,000 rickshaws, ride-hailing cars and public transport vehicles in Lahore now carry a QR panic code, Punjab authorities said on Monday, 28 September 2026. The code is a sticker inside the cabin: scan it with your phone and you see who is driving, and one tap sends an alert with your location to the police.

The work is being done under directions from Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. Lahore Traffic Police teams are fitting the codes at 45 points across the city, with a team in every traffic sector and 12 teams working only on rickshaws.

How the QR panic code works

1. Scan the sticker inside the rickshaw, taxi or ride-hailing car with your phone camera.
2. Check the vehicle: the page that opens shows the registration, the registered owner and the driver's details. If they do not match the vehicle you are in, that is your first warning.
3. Press panic in an emergency: the alert sends your live location and the vehicle's details to the Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) and Emergency 15. Harassment alerts go to the Virtual Women Police Station, which dispatches the nearest patrol.
4. Talk to them: the PSCA says you can reach its command centre by phone call, video link or text chat from the same screen.

You can also share the vehicle details or your live trip with family through the PSCA's Public Safety App.

For drivers and owners: it is compulsory

• The QR code is free. Owners get it from a Lahore Traffic Police centre by showing the driving licence, the vehicle registration card and the other papers the counter asks for.
• Enforcement has been on since 1 July 2026: rickshaws, taxis and ride-hailing cars without the code face fines and impoundment.
• The traffic police have opened four new licensing centres after requests from rickshaw unions, so drivers can sort out their licence and the code in one visit. Driving without a licence in Lahore now costs Rs 5,000 (see our licence crackdown story).
• Online cab services that do not add the required safety features face action, the government says.

Where else it applies

The same system runs on Metro, Speedo and electric buses in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan. In a separate phase, QR panic codes went into 39 women's colleges and are to be expanded to more than 450 women's colleges across Punjab.

What to do on your next ride

Scan the code before the rickshaw moves, not after something goes wrong. If a vehicle has no sticker, or the sticker shows a different number plate, you can refuse the ride and report it to 15.