Transport Commissioner: Cancel RC (registration certificate) of cars & two wheelers with ‘defective silencers’

The Transport Commissioner of Bangalore, B. Dayananda, has stepped up the drive against car and two wheelers running ‘defective silencers’. The registration certificate (RC) of violating vehicles will be cancelled for a period of four months. The Transport Commissioner has also asked traffic police to refer erring vehicle to the RTO for RC cancellation. He has asked them to consider cases of ‘defective silencers’ at par with drunken driving cases, which also attract RC suspension.

Here is his statement on the same,

We will also ask the traffic police to refer cases for suspension of RCs after filing cases against the owners of vehicles with defective silencers

What does ‘Defective Silencer’ mean?

A defective silencer refers to any automobile exhaust that emits more noise that that’s legally permissible. Since cops in India generally don’t have decibel meters to measure the exact amount of noise emitted by exhausts, they generally consider all modified exhausts to be ‘defective’, even if such exhausts are well within the legally permissible sound limits.

Traffic police in multiple states of India such as Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra have already begun drives against loud exhausts, particularly targeting Royal Enfield motorcycles, whose owners fit their bikes with after-market exhausts. In most cases, these after-market exhausts are much louder than stock exhausts, making such bikes the target of police action.

Soon, expect more police action against ‘defective silencers/loud exhausts’ across India…

With three major states already acting against ‘defective silencers’, more states could join in this drive in the coming months. This could sent shivers across the spines of both owners whose vehicles have modified exhausts, and also after-market exhaust makers – who stand to lose a major chunk of their business.

In India, according to Section 52 of the Motor Vehicle Act, it is illegal to modify any part of the vehicle without RTO approval. Since after-market silencers/exhausts are considered to be modified parts, traffic police and RTO officials can act against such vehicles with fines and even seizure in certain circumstances.

Via TheHindu