Penalize everyone who has a police logo on their personal vehicle: State Transport Dept.

According to a new circular, all private vehicles sporting a ‘police’ sticker or emblem will soon face action in the form of a penalty.

The circular, issued by the State Transport Department, states that action should be taken against any private vehicle which is sporting the name or logo related to Mumbai police or Mumbai traffic police (in case of Mumbai). According to rules, even police officers cannot put any logos on their personal vehicles.

All Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) across the state received the circular on Friday. An excerpt from the circular (translated from Marathi) reads, “Police officers put up police department’s logo or signage on their private vehicles even though they have been told not to do so. Violators, if apprehended, should be prosecuted appropriately.”

In recent years, there has been a surge in the number of vehicles sporting the police badge due to the ‘privileges’ attached to it. Among them, and the most abused one, is the ability to flout traffic rules and get away with it.

According to an official with Sion police station, “Most officers put the ‘police’ stickers on all their private vehicles. It helps during emergencies, but most of them do it to avoid getting penalized for breaking traffic rules. Although officers follow traffic rules even when they are not on duty, a traffic cop seldom stop anyone from the department if they have stepped over the line.”

“Unfortunately, that’s not the end of it. The problem becomes more severe when friends and family of a police officer put such stickers on their vehicles. In their cases, they either do it to avoid getting pulled over by traffic cops or paying tolls,” he added.

Per the directive, any individual driving a vehicle sporting a police sticker or emblem will be penalized and the logos will be scratched off the vehicle.

RTOs are expected to put the plan into action soon, although the exact date has not been finalized.