TRICHY: Despite being notified as a violation under the Motor Vehicles Act, motorists in the
city continue to flaunt fancy number plates. Demand for number plates in regional languages and pictures with movie stars are on the rise, according to printing agents.
While the police and Transport department are conducting several awareness programmes regarding traffic violations, vehicle owners, particularly youngsters, continue to modify their number plates with fancy fonts and designs to make sure their bikes look more attractive.
"Clients want to use the latest pictures of their favourite film stars to show their affection for them. They also want fancy fonts and colours. There is almost a competition among these youngsters for the most attention-grabbing number plates," said a printing agent near Othakadai.
According to regulations, letters on the number plate should be in English with Arabic numerals and no fancy lettering. "In recent times, there has been a significant number of bikers with number plates using Tamil fonts and numbers. Apart from being a violation, it leads to difficulty when you have to interpret
the number immediately," said a police officer.
He added, "What would happen if some bystander is trying to help us solve a crime? Most members of the public along with police cannot interpret such plates in the first attempt. This is a major hurdle when number plates stand as proof and help in solving crimes."
Speaking to TNIE, R Arunachalam, ACP, Traffic South, said, "We have been imposing fines on motorists who travel with fancy numbers. Any modification apart from government norms is considered a traffic violation. Regarding Tamil fonts and numbers, we have been making the public aware of the difficulties that can be caused."