Vehicle dealerships may be selling vehicles without HSRP, say Pune RTO officials

Pune: The city is seeing an increasing number of “invisible vehicles” on its roads — cars, bikes and trucks moving about without number plates, sparking concern among transport officials.The problem is not new; driving without number plates continues in Pune despite assurances from RTO that owners would be penalised immediately.But what has now worried officials are sightings of new vehicles on roads without number plates, which has led them to suspect owners may be deliberately removing High Security Registration Number Plates (HSRPs), with help from local garages.“HSRPs are tamper-proof. Once removed, they can’t be fixed again,” an RTO official said. “We suspect people may be removing the plates to either have ‘fancy numbers’ or to drive around without number plates.”So far, RTO officials have not found garages involved in tampering of HSRPs, but they fear another problem may be at play: new vehicles being released by dealerships without HSRPs. “It is mandatory for dealerships to release a new vehicle with HSRPs. A vehicle cannot be delivered without one. It is now evident that many dealerships are not following this rule, despite our reminders and notices,” the RTO official said.Commuters too said they have noticed an increase in the number of new vehicles plying without the plates. “Most are two-wheelers,” said Kondhwa resident and working professional Vivek Chavan, adding that they were being ridden by youngsters. “It’s possible they think the vehicle won’t be traced if plates are missing,” Chavan said.A senior RTO official said the lack of plates does make a vehicle “nearly impossible” to track down.“We rely on a network of CCTVs and many of the modern ones do give us a clear image of the driver and vehicle, even at night. But how does one track the vehicle without a number plate? It’s nearly impossible,” the official said, adding that one of the original ideas behind HSRPs was to have uniform numbers which could be “read” by modern CCTV cameras.“With thousands of vehicles of the same colour or same make out on the streets, tracking a vehicle without plates is a near-impossible task. One way, which is a long shot, is to contact dealerships again, the process is hugely tedious,” the official added.Pune regional transport officer Archana Gaikwad did not respond to calls or texts, but another RTO official said a few dealerships have been sent notices for HSRP violations.