Drama troupe’s vehicle was not penalised, says AMVI

Kozhikode: Allegations of a vehicle transporting a drama troupe being fined Rs 24,000 for installing a name board on top of the vehicle are baseless, said the Thriprayar Assistant Motor Vehicle Inspector (AMVI) who inspected the vehicle.

“We did not impose a fine on the dram troupe. We asked them to pay the fees for installing the board on the vehicle. 24000 is not a fine but the size of the board in square centimetres,” Thriprayar AMVI Sheeba told mathrubhumi.com.

“Recently, several vehicles plying with boards had met with accidents. Inspections revealed that the boards were tied to the vehicle with ropes. More often, these ropes came loose and the boards came down resulting in accidents,” the AMVI said.

“We told the driver that it was not acceptable to ply the vehicle with such temporary boards. We informed them that a stipulated fee must be paid for installing such boards on vehicles. We also informed the driver about the dangers posed by such temporary boards,” the AMVI added.

“At that time, one of the passengers picked an argument with us. He asked based on which act were we talking and threatened that no official had ever registered a case against them over the board. We suspected that he was drunk. Later, he firmly demanded that we give them the reasons for registering the case in writing,” clarified the AMVI.   

Following this, the AMVI desponded that the board must be measured to determine the fees to be paid. The AMVI asked another officer to measure the board and calculate the fees to be paid.

“We had clearly stated that it was 24000 centimetre square. It was not a fine but the area of the board. The stipulated fee is 20 paise per centimetre square. This will amount to only Rs 4,800 for the board. The fee is valid for a year and must be paid at the RTO office,” AMVI Sheeba clarified.

‘There were two boards on the front and rear portions of the vehicle measuring 160 cms in length and 150 cms in width. This is in violation of section 191 of the Motor Vehicles Act. Hence the fees for 160 X 150 = 24000 centimetre square must be paid - these were the information mentioned in the receipt.

On Wednesday, visuals and video of the Motor Vehicles department allegedly imposing a fine of Rs 24,000 on a vehicle transporting members of drama troupe ‘Aluva Aswathi’. There was widespread criticism against the motor vehicles department on social media.

Sheeba, a resident of Mannuthy in Thrissur, has been working as an AMVI for the past two years.