Sun films may have been banned in four wheelers. But not all motorists are grumbling. Some ingenious four-wheeler owners have hit upon other ideas to prevent prying eyes from digging deep into their vehicles - sun shades.
They have brought these sun shades and stuck them all around their car glasses. The bolder ones have curtained their windows, especially in the VVIP cars, and still others have stuffed their rear car glass with soft toys just to ensure privacy.
The recent Supreme Court ruling prohibits the use of black films or any other material upon the windscreen (front and rear) and side glasses of vehicles. Unmindful of the ruling, people are investing in sun shades of all shapes and sizes -- which are stuck on the side glasses and sometimes even on the front glass when the vehicle is parked. Seeing the demand, the car accessory shops and street vendors have stocked up these sun shades in bulk.
Metrolife asked the Bangalore traffic police whether this trend is accepted; car accessory shops about the sales of such sun shades and people about the ban.
Additional commissioner of police (traffic) M A Saleem points out that almost 90 per cent of car owners have responded to the campaign by the traffic police against usage of sun films. "June 5 was the last date and the RTO has begun fining people who still haven't removed the tint. No material must be stuck and anybody who resorts to sticking will be caught and fined," he warns.
But car accessory shops have been seeing a steady rise in the sales of netted sun shades which are sold at Rs 100 for a pair for the side glasses and Rs 250 for a pair for the front and the rear glasses. Sandeep Pagaria, who owns a car accessory shop on J C Road, is against banning of sun films. He says that he has accounted a loss of Rs three to four lakh as all sun films are lying unused in his godown. "I have sold about 500 to 1000 such sun shades till date (that is, after sun films were banned). I don't make much profit but the demand for such sun shades have gone up," says Sandeep.
People are not happy about sun films being banned and they reason that it has caused a lot of problems. So, why not turn to an alternative, is their point of view. Venkatesh H S, an IT professional, says, "The removal of the sun film has caused a lot of problems - right from sunburn to the air conditioning inside the vehicle just not working. We need some shade on the windows."
Aju A, another techie, too feels that though this ban on sun films has been brought in to curb crime, people are finding alternative ways to flout the law. "People have started using window curtains, pillows and removable sun shields. Eventually, this new rule is not reducing problems; it may on the contrary lead to increase in all sorts of harassments."
Sheela Rao, a homemaker, says that women have no privacy. "In foreign countries, you don't find people peeping into another person's cars but here you find people prying all the time. At least, a sun shade will keep oglers at bay," she concludes.