After cautioning erring four-wheeler owners and also sending a warning signal to car décor outlets ten days back, the traffic police department cracked the whip on cars with tinted films on Friday.
As part of the day-long special drive conducted simultaneously at four places in the city, cars with tinted films having dark-screens beyond the permissible limits were stopped and the owners made to remove them on the spot.
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“As the Supreme Court has banned the use of tinted films on car windscreens following reports of kidnap and murder incidents in such vehicles, we are enforcing the rules. We have already cautioned car owners about the action and given them ten days’ time to get the tints removed before launching this drive,” explained P. Shankar, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Traffic) of Tirupati Urban police district.
Fine levied
The owners were also charged a fine of Rs.500.
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Outstation vehicles proceeding to Tirumala hills were taken aback at the drive and said they were unaware of the law, but to no avail.
On the flipside, the cops faced trouble in identifying the smokescreen level of windscreen and often stopped the wrong vehicles, only to allow them to proceed after a tiff with the owner.
Light tints allowed
There were mild flutters when the traffic cops stopped the official vehicle of TTD Executive Officer L.V. Subrahmanyam at Mahati auditorium junction, who explained that the tint was well under the limit.
He also agreed to send the vehicle back if the level was found to be higher.
Mr. Shankar announced that the drive would be conducted randomly across the city daily.