THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major crackdown on the illegal use of sun-control film and curtains in vehicles, the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) on Sunday launched the statewide ‘Operation Screen’ drive. As many as 900 cases were registered on day one for flouting the Supreme Court order in this regard.The drive started in the capital city by 11am and 58 cases were reported in the district. The violators will receive a memo asking them to pay `1,250 as fine at the Regional Transport Office (RTO) concerned.
Those found guilty of non-compliance will have to remove the sun films and curtains within three days and present the vehicle for inspection before the RTO concerned or any nearby officers. They should obtain a certificate from the RTO confirming that the illegal add-ons have been removed. “In the case of repeat offenders, the Registration Certificate of the vehicles will be suspended,” said A K Dilu, Thiruvananthapuram Enforcement RTO. Dilu told TNIE that they will employ soft tactics against the offenders during the first 14 days of the operation.
“Our intention is not to inconvenience people. We want to make them aware of the rules and hence a soft stand will be adopted in the first two weeks. We hope people will realise the seriousness of the issue,” he said. One of the vehicles that was booked belonged to DCC president Neyyattinkara Sanal. However, the official vehicle of Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran, which had window curtains, was not flagged down by the officials.
An MVD source said they had randomly selected vehicles and did not go in for extensive checks. The vehicles were inspected using e-pose device which provides the name and contact details of owners on clicking the photo of the number plate. The memo will be sent to the mobile numbers of the owners registered with the MVD. For older vehicles, which do not have their owners numbers registered with the MVD, the memo will be sent by post.