Stickers Like Police, Press & Judge On Your Vehicle Might Soon Get You In Trouble

The Police in Mumbai have begun cracking down on those vehicles sporting misrepresentational stickers. This includes having stickers like Police, Advocate, Press, Judge, Government, etc on private vehicles.

The crackdown comes shortly after the Mumbai High court ordered that no private vehicles should have such stickers. Such stickers and decals being seen on private vehicles is a common sight not just in Mumbai but across India.

It is no secret that the government and police have a lot of authority in India. In order to get away with breaking the rules and to avoid being checked, thousands of people add these stickers to their vehicles.

These decals are available for as little as Rs 15 and can provide a great deal of protection to the people in these vehicles, or should we say that they allow them to get away with most traffic offences. Sometimes, the owner of the vehicle is actually a policeman or a lawyer or a media representative, hence it is not actually misrepresentation in essence.

However, there is no way of differentiating between the genuine ones and those who are faking it. Hence, the Mumbai High court ruled against all such vehicles. The ones who have such a high power or authority will actually be given a government vehicle to use and the registration number would show it.

Madhukar pandey, the Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Mumbai was quoted as saying, "People use the logo as a way to violate traffic rules and get away with it. Moreover, many cases of impersonation have also been recorded where they fleece money from unsuspecting motorists who either jump a signal or violate some other traffic rules. These stickers are easily available in the market for as low as Rs 15, allowing anyone to paste it on the windscreen of the cars or motorcycle's mudguard or number plates."

Mumbai's police have swung into action and have been cracking down on such vehicles and in most cases have found the person to have no genuine connection to what the stickers on their vehicle claim.

Intriguingly, As per the Per section 134 (6) of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Rules (MMVR) and section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA), displaying a word, figure, drawing or sticker on private vehicles carries a fine of Rs 200.

This actually means, the sticker does not have to be a word like Police or Press. It can in-fact be even a racing stripe or a religious symbol or even the name of a person. It remains to be seen if this section of the act would be amended or if the police would begin imposing fines on the lakhs of vehicles with stickers on them.

Thoughts On Mumbai Police Crackdown On Vehicles With Police, Press & Judge Stickers

The Mumbai Police has taken this initiative only after the Mumbai High Court ruled against such stickers. However, it remains to be seen if the police will actually take action against all vehicles with such stickers.

The genuine policemen, media personnel and government officials might try to make use of their power and get away with this too. However, implementing this crackdown against all such offenders in the entire country should actually help stop people from intentionally breaking the law.