Authorities in Karnataka, including Bengaluru, will start a drive against vehicle owners who use faulty, fancy and illegal number plates. Those using illegal government emblems and logos will also face the same fate starting from Saturday.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, N Shivkumar, Commissioner for Transport and Road Safety, said the department will take strict action following the Central Motor Vehicles (CMV) rules. He said usage of government symbols and emblems without proper authorization will also attract action from the department following the Emblems and Names (Prevention of improper Use) Act 1950.

This enforcement will be carried out by a joint team of Transport Department officials and Karnataka Police, he said. He warned that starting from Saturday, those found to use improper number plates will be fined Rs 500 and the faulty numbers will be removed by the officials.

This announcement comes after the department on December 20 had issued a notification stating the same. The notification had mentioned that the numberplates should have a standard colour of fonts, plate, content, font size and clarity.

Officials said all numbers should be black on white for all non-commercial vehicles, including two-wheelers, and similarly, all commercial vehicles should have boards in yellow with black letters or digits. 

However, this is not the first time that the issue had cropped up. In 2017, then opposition leader and now minister, Suresh Kumar, had raised the issue in the state Assembly. Replying to the same, then Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy acknowledged the issue of faulty number plates.

He had said that there were only 350 inspectors in the Transport Department and even then a majority of them were deployed for office work, which meant there was a lack of enforcement.

Further, he suggested that fines for this violation can be increased as a deterrent and said he will discuss the same with the then Home Minister.