Beacons no more: Maha transport chief writes to govt, police departments to abide by new rule

Sources said the commissioner attached a copy of the newly amended rule about using beacons along with the letters he sent to the government departments, RTOs, police and collectors.

To rein in politicians and government officials flouting the Centre’s latest diktat about giving up the use of beacons on their official vehicles, state transport commissioner Praveen Gedam recently wrote to all the secretaries of various state departments, superintendents of police, regional transport offices (RTOs) and district collectors, asking them abide by the new rule.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis arrives in a beaconless car for a state cabinet meet on Tuesday. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT)

In its bid to end the VIP culture in the country, the Centre on May 1 issued a notification banning use of beacons except those on emergency vehicles. However, despite this diktat, several government officials and politicians from the state continued the use of beacons, thus forcing the motor Vehicles department to take the necessary steps.

“The new rule prohibits the use of beacons. Only vehicles on emergency duty or those used for maintaining law and order are allowed to use multi-coloured beacons,” said Gedam.

Acting on the transport department’s order, officials from all four RTOs in Mumbai — Tardeo, Wadala, Andheri and Borivli — removed the amber-colured beacons mounted on their official vehicles. According to sources, though a few of the officials are yet to remove the beacons, they have been covered.

Most ministers in the Devendra Fadanvis-led government have already removed red beacons atop their official vehicles. The state government had amended the rule about the use of beacons last October, way before the Centre’s notification, allowing law enforcement agencies such as the police and the RTOs to use amber-coloured beacons instead of blue. Moreover, the government had drafted a list of VIPs entitled to use beacons.