Cops crack down on fancy number plates…..Nitasha Natu
More Than 14,000 Cases Recorded In September Alone
More Than 14,000 Cases Recorded In September Alone
Mumbai: After the vigorous campaign against drunk driving,the traffic police is now cracking down on fancy number plates in the city.The drive has gathered pace after their August 27 deadline for getting rid of the fancy versions passed,with the number of cases recorded already surpassing last years figures.Fancy number plates are tough to read,making it difficult for a vehicle involved in a crime to be tracked down.
According to statistics provided by the traffic police,more than 14,000 motorists have been penalised in the month of September alone,which is the highest in a single month so far.In fact the number of car owners fined this year has already surged way ahead of the total cases in 2009,despite two months still left to go.
Enforcement drives carried out by our staff for all traffic offences have increased over the past few months.But besides enforcement,we also want to educate people, said additional commissioner Brijesh Singh.As far as the campaign against fancy number plates is concerned,we have been recording a 1000 cases daily till last month.Besides,there are three other important drives that our teams are focusing on: drunkdriving,jumping signals and flouting parking restrictions.
The campaign against unauthorised number plates has also caught the attention of netizens in a major way and the traffic polices Facebook page is testimony to it.There are more than a 1000 pictures of traffic offences uploaded on the Facebook page,a majority of them relating to fancy number plates.
Photos of offenders are uploaded on our page every few hours by alert motorists.But the procedure to be followed thereafter isnt simple, an official said.So far,the cops have taken action on only 10 Facebook photos of vehicles using fancy number plates and their registration numbers have also been posted publicly.
We have to first verify the authenticity of a picture posted.Our team then contacts the RTO with the registration number of the offenders vehicle and obtains his address.A challan is then sent to the offenders residence, the official added.Cops using fancy number plates for their bikes and cars havent been spared either.
Elaborating on the desired specifications for number plates,traffic police officials said that all the letters on a number plate should be in English,preferably in Times Roman font.
The state code and registering authority code should form the first line on the number plate while the rest will form the second line,one below the other.The specification for minimum size of letters/numerals and the spacing between them has been provided on the polices website.
While Devanagri script is not allowed on the actual number plate,if a motorist wants to use the local language he can have it written on the body of the vehicle on the side of the number plate.
Moreover,each class of vehicles has a separate colour scheme assigned for number plates.For instance,number plates for private vehicles should have letters and numerals in black against a white background,while commercial vehicles should sport letters and numerals in black against a yellow background.
THE RULEBOOK
Laws Applicable: Central Motor Vehicle Rules 50 and 51
Fine: Rs 100
Fine: Rs 100
CASES
2009: 28,557
2010: 36,996
2010: 36,996
Upswing in cases in the latter part of 2010:
June: 1,827
July: 2,433
August: 4,486
September: 14,425
July: 2,433
August: 4,486
September: 14,425
SPECIFICATIONS
Each class of vehicles has a separate colour scheme for numberplates.
Private vehicles: Letters and numerals in black,background of the numberplate should be white
Commercial (transport) vehicles: Letters and numerals in black,background yellow
Temporarily registered vehicles: Letters and numerals in red,background yellow
Trade-certified vehicles: Letters and numerals in white,background should be red