Kozhikode: Last week, at Thondayad junction, police stopped a modified car with youngsters dancing through a sunroof, during the night. The vehicle was so altered that it had no resemblance to that of its registration certificate (RC) records, said Traffic CI Sreejith T.P. The vehicle will have its RC suspended or cancelled and the authorities would seek reversing it to its original design. However, RTO C.K. Paulson said that the maximum punishment meted out to the drivers who alter their vehicles without permission was just Rs 500 and rarely they cancelled the RC.
“We do not have any records here to show cancellation of RC for altering vehicles. The maximum punishment we had meted out was to suspend the RC and revoke it after they bring brought back the vehicle to the registered (original) shape. In most of the cases, they get away with the fine and re-modification,” the RTO said. Mechanics, who alter cars in the city, say that there are youngsters who are ready to spend upto '8 lakh for such modifications, mainly body colour, sunroof and tyres. Among the bikes, bullets are the ones that are altered. Removing the silencers are common among the alterations. They added that youngsters from Malappuram were notorious for such modifications, and were ready to spend any amount. Though the fine for the modified (without permission) car remains at a meagre '500, the fine for designed number plates is '2000, said the RTO.
