UP cops to go after distorted car plates

“Papa”, “Boss” and “Mama’s gift” could now land you in trouble in Lucknow. The Lucknow traffic police have launched a massive drive to check distortion in registration number plates that often make it difficult for traffic constables to decipher the actual number. The drive was launched after a luxury car was seen with the word “Papa” written in Devnagri script. The registration number of the vehicle that, ironically, belonged to a police official, was UP32 GJ 4141, but 4141 was written to read “Papa” in Devnagri script. Another vehicle with the registration number 8155 had written it to read as “Boss.”

The traffic police have now asked people to click photographs of vehicles with such number plates and WhatsApp the same to 9454405155, after which the police identifies the owner and hands out an e-challan.

“The e-challan will be cancelled only if the offender deposits Rs 100 fine amount and also gets the fancy plate replaced within a week. In case the offender does not take an e-challan seriously, the traffic police will visit the vehicle owner’s house for further action, which may include cancellation of the vehicle owner’s licence,” said SP traffic Habibul Hasan.

A number of motorists in Lucknow have also been using different font sizes to highlight their lucky numbers. Single digit numbers like three, seven or eight are written in a bigger font size while the remaining three are in a reduced size. Religiously significant number like 786 are also being highlighted, which is a violation of the Motor Vehicles’ Act.

Besides, the traffic police have put those vehicles under a scanner that carry words, statements and designations on the registration number plates.

“It is becoming fashionable to write ‘Mama’s Gift’, ‘Daddy’s gift’ on vehicles. Some people write their children’s names and other flaunt their positions by writing ‘CM ofifce,’ ‘DM office,’ ‘high court’ on the registration plate. Some are even writing their caste names like ‘Yadav’ and ‘Maurya’ on the registration plates. We will be targeting these vehicles too,” said a senior police official.