Following orders of the Supreme Court to regulate the display of red lights on vehicles of high dignitaries, the Transport Department has come up with new regulations specifying the category of persons eligible to use red light with flasher and a beacon without a flasher.
The police officers and other authorities are entrusted with the task of enforcing the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the rules should ensure imposition of an appropriate penalty on the defaulting vehicles.
“When the dignitaries are not travelling in the vehicles fitted with red lights, the vehicles are to be covered by black cover,” the order said.
As per the notification, the Lieutenant Governor, the Chief Minister and the Speaker are only entitled to use red light with flasher on their vehicle in the Union Territory.
All Ministers, the Deputy Speaker, the Leader of Opposition, the Chief Secretary and the State Election Commissioner are permitted to use the red light without flasher.
The notification, signed by Under Secretary to Government R. Chandrasekaran, said, “The men in uniform and operational agencies requiring unhindered access to the roads to perform their duties shall not be entitled to having red light but can use blue, white, multicolour.”
The vehicles of ambulance service and fire service and police escort to high dignitaries should use multicoloured lights (blue, red and white). Police vehicles used for law and order duties, vehicles of Exercise, Revenue, Disaster Management and Transport Departments are allowed to use blue light with flasher.
The Transport Department also specified ambulance, fire service, police pilot, escort or law and order, construction equipment vehicles are entitled to be fitted with multi-tone horns.
