Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya informed Lok Sabha in a written reply yesterday that the Supreme Court has prohibited pasting of any material/ films of any Visible Light Transmission (VLT), on the safety glasses of any vehicle and has directed police authorities that they should not only challan the offenders but also ensure that the black or any other film or material passed on the safety glasses are removed forthwith. As per Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, the glass of the windscreen and rear window of every motor vehicle should be such and should be maintained in such a condition that the visual transmission of light is not less than 70%. In case of glasses used for side windows the visual transmission of light should not be less than 50%, and should conform to Indian Standards.
It was also stated that the fitment of crash guards / bull bars is in contravention of Motor Vehicle Act 1988, and attracts penalty under section 190 and section 191 of the said Act. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has also issued advisory to all States and Union Territories for taking action against unauthorised fitment of crash guards / bull bars on the motor vehicles. In order to improve last-mile connectivity and private use, the Ministry has also notified Quadricycle under the category of Non-Transport Vehicles.
In a separate written reply, Shri Mandaviya informed the House that under Bharatmala Pariyojana, the Government is planning to construct Ring Roads around 28 cities. In addition to this, intervention is also planned to remove choke points and congestion points across National Highways network.
National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) programme, a flagship initiative of the Ministry is being implemented on pan India basis in order to remove bottlenecks and ensure seamless movement of traffic and collection of user fee at Toll Plazas. In this direction, NHAI is currently preparing a Standard Operating Procedure for on-boarding of State Toll Plazas under NETC programme. Till date, 26 State Toll plazas are already on-board of the system and meetings with identified states are being conducted to discuss the further on-boarding of State Toll Plazas under NETC programme.
