According to an RTI, in last three years, there has been a three fold increase in the number of cases registered against two-wheelers with Marathi number plates. This figure has increased in spite of the ban on the usage of number plates in Marathi or any Devanagari script, under the Central Motor Vehicles Act of 1989.
In 2009, 7,936 cases were registered, which increased to 18,000 in 2010. The number of cases further increased to 19,299 in the year 2011. Activist Chetan Kothari, who filed the RTI, said, “People should understand that if they meet with an accident in another state, a Marathi number plate will stump the police and cause a delay in reaching out to the family of the injured. Similarly, if a car or bike is stolen in a state where police officials do not understand Marathi, then there will be greater difficulty in locating the vehicle.”
Kothari also sought other details for not displaying a number plate at all, non-usage of helmet and usage of mobile phone while riding a two wheeler. According to statistics, number of people booked in Mumbai for not wearing helmets decreased from 2,72,609 cases in 2009 to 2,23,969 cases in 2011, which also includes non-usage of ISI market helmets.
This provides a positive indication that the awareness drive and action against violators are result orienting. As far as cases related to usage of mobile phones while riding bikes or missing number plates are concerned, alert policing has not been able to provide a check.
Brijesh Singh, additional commissioner of police (traffic), said, “I would not say that Marathi number plates have increased as we do not compile figures for them in particular. In fact, we register cases for fancy number plates or the ones that are not in the correct format.” He added, “The figures are also reflective of many special drives we have taken like those on helmets and number plates. These were also taken after incidents of various accidents were reported.”
