The statewide drive against the use of black films has gained steam with cars of even sub-divisional officers not being spared.

Patna district transport officer (DTO) Dinesh Kumar Rai has penalised six such vehicles on the collectorate premises on Tuesday. Rai said: “District magistrate N. Saravana Kumar told us that many vehicles parked at the collectorate have glasses with black film.

Accordingly, our team went to the spot and fined six vehicles, which belonged to the sub-divisional officers of Barh, Danapur and Paligunj, and circle officers of Bihta and Phulwarisharif. Apart from charging penalty of Rs 600, we have also served warning letters for cancellation of registration of the vehicles.”

At least Rs 21 lakh has been collected as penalty in Patna and Muzaffarpur in the past fortnight as part of a drive against use of black film in cars. Nearly a year after the Supreme Court put a blanket ban on use of such films in vehicles across the country, the state transport department has penalised 3,844 cars in the cities.

In a bid to intensify the drive, the department has further issued a directive to all DTOs and traffic police for cancelling the registration and imposing heavy penalty on the vehicles found using glasses with black films. “The recent drive against use of black films seems quite satisfactory as over Rs 21 lakh has been collected as penalty from 3,844 vehicles in Patna and Muzaffarpur from the last week of March. The details of fine collected under this drive from other districts are still being compiled at present,” said a senior official of the transport department.

On March 3, the transport department issued a notice asking owners of vehicles fitted with black films to remove them at the earliest. Later, the drive was jointly executed by motor vehicles inspectors, traffic police and DTOs in which each of the car has been charged Rs 600 as penalty, said a DTO officer.