It has become common for senior officials, political leaders and even Government employees to blatantly violate the Motor Vehicle Act by putting up name plates displaying their designations on their vehicles.
As per the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act 1988 and Central Motor Vehicle Act 1989 nothing except the registration number of the vehicle should be displayed on the number plates of the vehicles and those violating this rule are liable to face punishment.
According to the MV Act, any Government official or Government employees are strictly not allowed to display their designations on non-government vehicles.
Inspite of the mentioned norms many non-government vehicles, private vehicles, taxis and other vehicles are seen displaying tags on their number plates like 'Bharat Sarkar', 'Uttarakhand Sarkar', or 'Government of Uttarakhand' and other similar tags. This is illegal and owners of such vehicles are liable to face action under the MV Act.
However, Senior Administrative Officer at RTO, Jitendra Thakur, stated that regular checking drives are being conducted by the RTO officials to eradicate this nuisance. He said that any name plate is not allowed to be put on the non-government vehicles.
Officials holding any Government post can put the name plates but their department should also be clearly specified on the name plate.
RTO officials stress that any government officer or employee should not be allowed to display any tag or designation on their private vehicles. Violators of this rule would face action under article 177 of the Motor Vehicle Act 1988.
According to the Additional Regional Transport Officer (ARTO) (Administration), Sandeep Saini, any offenders including the government officers and government employees if found flouting this rule and displaying designations on their number plates are liable to face action under MV Act. He
stated that a penalty of Rs100 is imposed for first violation and Rs500 penalty for second time violation.
Saini also informed that RTO officials would most probably be starting two day checking drive against the misuse of name plates from January 17 to 18.
However, observers opine that the paltry penalty charged by the RTO is not enough to deter people from flaunting their professional status. According to RTO officials, total 25 challans were imposed from January to December 2013 on those flouting the number plate rule.
