Private cars have emerged as top violators of number plate rules in Delhi. On the first day of its drive against defective number plates, the Delhi Traffic Police prosecuted 300 cars out of the total 827 challans issued on Thursday.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Anil Shukla said that to deter the increasing use of improper number plates, Section 39 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 has been invoked. Under this, offenders have to pay a challan of Rs 2,000 for first violation.
“This may be extended to Rs 5,000 or imprisonment which may extend to one year, or both for second and subsequent offences,” he said.
Apart from this, 62 heavy vehicles, 12 driving vans, five taxis and one three-wheeled scooter rickshaw were challaned on July 18. Earlier, the offenders used to get away easily by paying a paltry sum of Rs 100. Earlier, in many instances of crimes, offenders managed to slip away as the vehicle’s registration number was not clearly visible. Those prosecuted will have to appear before the court to pay the challan amount and remove the plates.
“It has been observed that many vehicles plying in the city have number plates where the registration numbers are either not clearly legible, or have stickers and images drawn on them. In some cases, font and colour of the text differ as well. Some of them have number plates of different shapes and sizes,” said Shukla.
To ensure that the violators do not question the challan in the court, all challan-issuing officers, including Zonal Officers and Traffic Inspectors have been armed with digital cameras.
They will click a photograph of the number plate of the vehicle and attach it with the challan notice.