Ban of unauthorised stickers on private vehicles in Chennai comes into effect

CHENNA: The Chennai traffic police’s recent order banning the use of unauthorised stickers of government departments/institutions has come into effect today.

For several years now, individuals have been fined for having stickers stating ‘Press’, ‘Police’, ‘Doctor’, ‘Lawyer’, ‘High Court’, ‘Chief Secretariat’, and ‘Army’ on their vehicles. The police have also noted that some vehicle owners were posing as mediapersons and lawyers to escape after committing crimes.

Additional Commissioner of Traffic Police R. Sudhakar had issued a circular dated April 27 warning of strict action under the Motor Vehicle Act on those affixing stickers that have not been approved by the government on April 27. The police had provided time till May 1 to remove the stickers.

A press note from the police read thus: From May 2, “Strict action will be taken against the violators by booking cases under Section 198 of MV Act 1988 (Unauthorised interference with a motor vehicle) and CMV Rule 50 under Section 177 of MV Act (defective number plate).

“Revealing such government affiliation in private vehicles could compromise operating efficiency and safety. Also, it may lead to misuse of the department's reputation and deviate officers and police personnel during their field duty,” it added.

The circular has received support as well as opposition from various quarters. People working as mediapersons, doctors, and lawyers demanded to be exempted from the ban. Following this, the traffic police permitted the concerned department personnel to paste the relevant stickers on their vehicles.