April 4: A fresh drive today against cars sporting tinted glass has revealed that the transport department’s repeated appeals and drives to get these removed have made little difference here.

The Kamrup district transport office today found 21 cars using tinted glass in violation of a Supreme Court order prohibiting their use. During a joint drive carried out by the transport department and Guwahati traffic police, the team removed solar films from 180 cars and collected fine of Rs 36,200 from vehicles at different places.

District transport officer (registration and licences) Gautam Das told this correspondent that today’s drive was launched following the state government’s recent order to ensure removal of tinted glasses from vehicles by March 31.

“We had made repeated appeals and launched similar drives earlier. But many are still found violating our instructions. Today, we found tinted glasses in cars belonging to two ministers from Nagaland and Meghalaya. We will continue the drive and ensure enforcement of the Supreme Court order,” Das said.

According to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, the windscreen and rear windows of vehicles should allow 70 per cent light transmission and side windows at least 50 per cent. But many car owners were found flouting the norms.

A fine of Rs 500 is imposed under Section 53 of the rules for using tinted glass and solar films, violating the permissible limits of visibility and those repeating the offence are charged fines of Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000 and their registrations are cancelled.

The Union ministry of surface transport last month had sent a letter to chief ministers asking to take steps and ensure enforcement of the Supreme Court order.

The court passed the order on a petition seeking a complete ban on use of dark films on car windows, including vehicles used by VVIPs, alleging that people using cars with tinted windows committed many crimes in cities.