Over 1,100 cases booked in Madurai for number plate violations

As many as 1,163 vehicle users were slapped fines for having improper number plates in the city during the two-day clampdown undertaken by the Madurai City Traffic Police.

This has come in the wake of the recent directions of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that asked the Regional Transport Offices functioning across the State to take strict action against those who violate the Motor Vehicles Rules by using images and messages on the number plates of their vehicles.

Vehicles targeted were those that violated Rule 50 and 51 of the Central Motor Vehicles (MV) Act 1989 which deals with improper number plates, the registration letters and numbers that shall be in black on white background for two-wheelers and light motor vehicles and on yellow background for commercial vehicles.

The rule mandates for clear visibility and legibility of letters and numbers, devoid of fancy ones, names, pictures or designs on it.

Deputy Commissioner (Traffic) S. Arumugasamy said that around 50 such cases were booked on an average per day, as every 10 out of 100 vehicles bear improper number plates and the offenders are mostly young adults.

“For the first time offenders, a spot fine of ₹500 is slapped, while it is ₹1,500 for repeat offenders. The total amount of fine collected during the two-day clampdown totals around ₹6 lakh”, he added.

Meanwhile, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) A. Thirumalai Kumar noted that around 11,500 cases were booked for violation of MV Act in the city until December 3.