In a bid to end VIP culture and taking safety considerations into account, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday ordered discontinuation of old registration numbers that were still in use even after enforcement of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The Chief Minister has asked the Transport Department to issue alternative valid numbers to the owners of vehicles with such numbers, which were already banned in neighbouring states, like Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, as per Section 217 read with Section 41 of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Besides promoting VIP culture, as these vehicle owners preferred to retain old registration numbers as a status symbol, the use of old numbers had become a security hazard in the border state of Punjab, an official spokesperson pointed out.Vehicles with these so-called VIP numbers were often misused by anti-social elements to carry out subversive activities as these vehicles were not stopped or checked by the police. Further, with such registration numbers used on multiple vehicles over the years, identification of original owners was difficult since old records were either untraceable or destroyed to accommodate VIPs.