Vehicle owners tamper with number plates to hoodwink cops, financiers

Hyderabad: To avoid getting caught by the financers and also to skip the traffic challans, the motorists in the city are changing the vehicle number series from TS (Telangana State) series to the newly introduced TG (Telangana) series, which the officials said was a crime. The Telangana Transport Department has issued a warning to vehicle owners stating that criminal cases will be booked against such violators.

The officials said that altering the State code on number plates will be considered tampering, which is a criminal offense. The TG series is applicable only to vehicles purchased after the introduction of the new code, while vehicles purchased before this will continue to carry the TS series.

Hyderabadis come up with novel solutions to hoodwink the police and also vehicle financiers. They began tempering High Security Registration Plates (HSRP), often disfiguring a digit in the number plate or sometimes folding the metal number plate in such a way that the number is not caught. Some had even removed the plates. People are now taking extreme steps by changing the State code—for instance, from ‘TS’ to ''TG'—which all come under the criminal offence and the violation of the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act by tampering with the registration number plate.

According to the City Auto and Motor Cab Drivers Welfare Society, the tempering of State code is rising in the city. It is to trick financiers and motorists who are unable to clear their monthly installments. “On average, 40 per cent of the vehicle owners in the city are duping financers, and to avoid getting caught by the financers, they are tricking with number plates and State code, which is a criminal offence,” said Mohammed Mahmood Hussain Makke, president, City Auto and Motor Cab Drivers Welfare Society.

He said, “In the State fixing HSRPs is mandatory, as it has an embedded registration number, and even the number plate with any radium is a violation. However, the motorists are evading the fixing of high security plates and continue to fix regular plates with radium numbers,” pointed out Mahmood.

The observer said that when police initiate special checks on roads, they avoid such routes or make U-turns from the spots. “Such violators are mostly youngsters; the police must not only impose challans on such a criminal offence but also spread awareness to their parents,” said K Venkatesh, one of the observers.

The Telangana Transport Department also issued a warning to vehicle owners against changing their vehicle registration number plates from the TS to TG. They stated that some vehicle owners are altering their number plates to display the TG code, which is illegal.

Transport officials emphasised that altering the State code on number plates will be considered tampering, which is a criminal offense. Strict legal action will be taken against anyone found making such changes under the MV Act, 1988, warned officials.