The Pimpri-Chinchwad Regional Transport Office has taken action against a car fitted with a motorised mechanism designed to conceal its registration number while travelling on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The vehicle owner was fined Rs 4,500 and the device was removed, according to the regional transport authority.
The action followed the circulation of a video on social media showing a car using a mechanism that could hide its number plate while the vehicle was in motion. Transport department officials traced the vehicle shown in the footage and visited the owner’s permanent address to inspect it.
During the inspection, officials found that the car had been fitted with a motorised system that could deliberately conceal the registration number. According to the officials, the primary purpose of the installation was to avoid automated traffic enforcement on the expressway, including speed cameras and e-challan action.
The device was reportedly not in use at the toll plaza, where the vehicle’s registration number was clearly visible. Officials said the number plate was concealed while the car was travelling on the highway, allowing the vehicle to evade camera-based identification.
“ The vehicle’s number was clearly visible at the toll plaza. A mechanism had been installed to hide it while travelling on the highway,” Pimpri-Chinchwad Regional Transport Officer Sandesh Chavan said, according to Loksatta. He added that action had been taken under the Motor Vehicles Act and that the mechanism had been removed from the vehicle.
The case highlights the role of registration-plate visibility in automated enforcement systems operating on major highways. Speed cameras and e-challan systems depend on the vehicle number being visible and correctly captured so that an alleged violation can be linked to the registered vehicle.
The transport office’s action involved both removing the modification and imposing a monetary penalty. The authority has not disclosed the vehicle owner’s identity, the exact design of the mechanism, or whether any additional proceedings will follow beyond the action already reported.
The Mumbai-Pune Expressway is monitored through automated systems as part of traffic enforcement, while toll-plaza records can also provide points at which vehicle movements and registration numbers are observed. In this case, officials used the circulated video to identify the vehicle and subsequently inspected it at the owner’s permanent address.
The Pimpri-Chinchwad RTO said the enforcement action was taken after confirming that the vehicle had been modified to hide its registration number during highway travel. The mechanism was removed and the Rs 4,500 fine was collected.
