Date:13/11/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/11/13/stories/2006111318440400.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

RTA is all out to stop `007s'

S. Sandeep Kumar

Transport wing official want to put paid to fancy number plates Transport wing officials want to put paid to fancy number plates

HYDERABAD: Vehicle owners using fancy registration number plates with weird designs and symbols, beware!

The Regional Transport Authority, Hyderabad, in coordination with the traffic police has launched a special drive to initiate action against such vehicles.

Fine up to Rs. 2,000

According to transport officials, vehicles displaying names, pictures and art works on the number plates other than registration marks will be liable to face a fine up to Rs. 2,000. The vehicles will be seized for driving without registration number plates under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.

The RTA to this effect has formed special teams to monitor the vehicles violating the rules and instructed number plate manufacturers to follow the guidelines in preparation of number plates. A meeting was held with plate manufacturers at Ramkote and Secunderabad recently and brochures pertaining to the font size of numbers and alphabets of the registration number to be displayed were distributed to them, Joint Transport Commissioner B. Venkateswarlu said.

"A large section of vehicle owners tend to violate these provisions by fixing fancy number plates to their vehicles. Like twisting the fonts to make the numbers look out of the ordinary," he said.

"For instance, serial number 7 is usually written in a digital font, making it appear like `007 with a gun.' All this practices will have to go," warned Mr. Venkateswarlu.