The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Law is clear on number plates

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 12, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Law is clear on number plates

By Marri Ramu

HYDERABAD, JAN. 11. Sentiment of language versus law! Notwithstanding the hue and cry raised by some Telugu lovers over the traffic police penalising a citizen for having his car number plate written in Telugu letters, the law is clear on the issue. `Letters of registration mark on a vehicle number plate shall be in English language and figures in Arabic numerals,' is what it says.

The transport authorities made it clear that the provision of rule-50, sub-rule-2 and proviso-D of Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, specifically states that letters on vehicle number plate should be in English and numerals in Arabic. The Government of India in a notification (No.SO. 444E dated June 12, 1989) issued under Section-41 (6) of the Motor Vehicle Act , 1988, also made these rules mandatory.

Easy identification

Transport department officials explained that the idea was to enable the police and people to easily identify vehicles in case of an accident or the latter being used for unlawful activities. There was also the possibility of vehicles with number plates written in regional languages travelling to other States and locals there having difficulty in recognising the numbers.

"Uniformity is what is pivotal. What if an accident occurs and people of that State complain of inability to recognise the vehicle since the number plate was in Telugu language," asks a RTA official. Why others, a majority of Telugus themselves are not good at making out Telugu numerals!

But, how is it that some buses of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation have letters and numerals in Telugu? "The State-run buses have Telugu number plates in addition to the English ones, not just Telugu ones," the transport officials explain. How about some VIPs displaying their number plates in Telugu? "Whether they are VIPs or VVIPs, law is law. Letters and numerals can be in no other language except in English and Arabic respectively," the Hyderabad Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Tejdeep Kaur Menon, maintained.

Expert view

Legal experts, however, say the State Government could amend the Motor Vehicle Act to allow vehicle owners to display number plates in Telugu letters and numerals. However, no such amendment had been made so far. Referring to the specific case of K. Niranjan Reddy, who was fined Rs. 200, Ms. Menon said Niranjan was penalised because his car's front number plate was in Telugu and broken too. While Rs. 50 was for violation of the rule, the remaining Rs. 150 was imposed for arguing with traffic police officials, she explained.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh