Free Sunfilm check at Bangalore till Jan 8th

[S Pathak]

As most of you Bangaloreans are already aware, due to the recent attack at IISc, the police plan to penalise all cars with sunfilm violating the visibility norms (50% for side glasses and 70% for front and rear).

The police is conducting a free check at BRV Ground at MG Road area for those who want to be sure whether to get the sunfilm removed or whether it is within acceptable norms. The free check facility shall be till Jan 8th. Thereafter, post Jan 15th, cars violating the norms shall have to pay fine of Rs 100/- at "court".

With a hope to pass the test. I went to the BRV grounds this morning and returned disappointed. I have a light shade for my dark car and this was not acceptable. Neither were cars which had even lighter shades. From what I saw, no film at all is the best option. Was told that 1 in 50 cars get approved and cars using 3M film with unambiguous visibility certification, might get approved.

Thought of posting this here as it might help fellow Bangaloreans to avoid possible future hassles.

[chandan]

Hey Pathak,
How do they do the check ? Do they have any device which gives them the intensity of light that passes thro ?

[S Pathak]

Yeah, they used a handheld light meter (incident) for measuring light levels off the windows.

[Rtech]

Do they give you some sort of sticker or certification to say you've passed? Somehting like a PUC sticker? That would be really usefull and prevent the cops from hasselling people even though they have the correct shade of tint on.

[amitoj]

no certificate of that sort, RTech. This facility at the BRV Grounds is only for the people to find out whether their tints meet the specs or not.

[S Pathak]

Amitoj is right. It's just a check, no certification.

[dev]

Pathak,
I won't think it is due to IISc attack. This is planned when Call Center incident happened. I won't think people will bound for this new rule. Every car roaming on BLR streets need to remove there Sun Films, if the Police are strict. I am sure this is a good oppurtunity to spin money for Police.

[amitoj]

The papers stated both incidents as the reasons behind this move.
and i guess the device has been set up at the BRV grounds so that those who dont meet the requirements can get the films removed from professionals. I remember when Delhi police had embarked on similar campaign long time back... the films were so brutally scratched off the windows!!

[S Pathak]

Precisely Dev. Also good opportunity for 3M to make some money at the cost of Garware. That was a part of a friendly chat I had with a local police at the BRV ground.

Now one can't be sure how funny the police shall act post Jan 15th. Not to mention of the hassle of not being able to pay a spot fine, but paying in a court.

The reason I said IISc was because the lunatics used a private vehicle with sunfilm. But I tend to agree the anti-sunfilm drive was a result of the BPO incident. But then, private vehicles should have been spared. Hence the IISc logic flows.

[dev]

So, what are you guys planning for this? Pay 100bucks everytime in a Court or settle the matter with the police(Don't know how much he asks) paying in the spot? I am really worried how these Police acts? I am bringing my vehicle on 16th Jan and recently put those Sun Films (Costed me 3K+).
Any ideas how to manage these so called Police?
I am sure, there will be a Bee line of cars in every junction if the police are so Strict.

[Neel]

I'm not sure how the check will be done now, but the papers indicate the Police have procured instruments each costing about 5K, planned to be deployed from Jan 15.

They might use the same ones for the free check too.

If you notice, most taxi's seem to have already scrapped off the film. In the process, scraping the film has made the window almost opaque with scratches !!!

[mohit]

I don't think you have to scrape the film off. I once had to remove the sunfilm on my car in Gurgaon. The cops didn't have any device so they were simply asking junta to remove the film no matter what the opacity. It came off just like a sticker.

[ajmat]

Took my car and it failed - light tint film but reflective. Removing it will be a big hassle. I have a sun allergy problem that adds to the problem. I am wondering whether to switch to V-kool - expensive but meets requirement as defined on the website on the site. V-kool meets doing the windscreen which in my case is chipped so means replacing it (RS7000!)

Gad, am confused

[Godfather]

I dont understand this at all.. i mean why should we be at the receiving end of this.. no offence but if the cabs were involved then the cabs should be the one to remove the tints.. is the government trying to tell that even the top dignitaries of the govt and the high ranking police officers cars also going to emove the tints.. will this also be effective for the ministers and so called VIP'S?????

[bigman]

We cant have so called VIPs without tints on their car. If we did then we would see that most official cars are abused and commandeered by family members on unofficial social trips. Also what if the VIP was with a girlfriend, his wife may see him.