Royal Enfield Owner Uses Name On Number Plate: Gets Fined Rs. 32,000
People love customising their vehicles and having a personal insignia on them. Many tend to modify their cars and motorcycles with aftermarket parts and accessories so that they stand unique. India has put strict curbs on vehicle modification. Now, a Royal Enfield rider from Gwalior has learnt an expensive lesson of not to ‘customise’ vehicle number plates, after he was fined Rs 32,000 by Etawah Police.
The specifics of this incident are not known. A man named Harsh Vardhan was recently confronted by the police as he had written ‘Harsh’ on his Royal Enfield’s number plate instead of its registration number. Doing this is completely illegal.
The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 clearly defines how the number plate of each vehicle should be designed. It even defines what colours and fonts are to be used on registration plates. All vehicles must have number plates that adhere to these guidelines. It’s been more than a year and a half since Harsh bought the motorcycle.
It has been registered with the number ‘MP 07 ZF 5466’. However, the owner refused to display the same on the number plate area. Instead, he wrote his name on it, and the police seized the vehicle for the same offence.
In the video that surfaced online, a policeman can be seen talking to the Royal Enfield owner. ‘What is your name’ he asks, to which the owner replies ‘ Harsh Vardhan’. ‘Where do you live?’. ‘Sir, Gwalior’. Then the cop asks what the number plate is for, pointing to it. The owner says ‘ for number’. The cop then gets aggressive and asks ‘ Where is the number then? Is ‘Harsh’ the number?’
The Royal Enfield owner is left with no choice but to accept his mistake and apologize. The cop then says that it has been long since he bought the motorcycle and it is illegal to not put the number plate on it yet. Harsh Vardhan accepts his fault and further tries to justify saying that the vehicle was not being used for a long time.
Finally, the policeman says that they are issuing a challan of 32,000 and seizing the vehicle thereby. The owner would have to go to the court and pay the fine, to get it back. Ignorance or sheer arrogance, this Royal Enfield owner had to pay a high price for it.
High Fine?
We don’t know if this Royal Enfield owner and the cop have a back story or if there are additional offences against him. As per the rules, offenders who do not use a valid number plate on his/ her vehicle would be fined Rs 5,000. The fine is the same for 4-wheelers, 3-wheelers and 2-wheelers. In this case, the actual fine imposed was much higher than this.
Mixed Reactions From Netizens
The post shared on Reddit is gathering mixed responses. Most people think the punishment to be appropriate and that the guy deserves it. Some, on the other hand, choose to stand by the Royal Enfield owner and further comment that the fine imposed is high.
Vehicle Number Plates: More About Them
Vehicles these days use High-Security Registration Plates (HSRPs). These were introduced to enhance road safety and limit vehicle-related crimes and fraud. Now, automotive models are fitted with HSRPs at the time of delivery. Instead of being bolted or screwed onto them, these are riveted in. The fonts, colours and font sizes to be used on these are all pre-defined. So one cannot opt for fancy or customised plates legally. Offenders will have to pay penalties of about Rs 5,000 for defective plates and Rs 500 for fancy plates. These would increase with repeated offences.
Why Is Not Having A Number Plate Dangerous?
Well, registration plates are essentially your vehicle’s ID cards. In situations like an accident or an emergency, these help in identifying the vehicle and its owner. Not having readable number plates also means that it would be difficult if not impossible to track the owner/user in case of a traffic rule violation or the involvement in a crime. It is thus crucial that all vehicles adhere to the set guidelines of having standardised number plates.